


New Beginnings

by Hellbreaker0234



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A miscarriage is mentioned, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - No Akuma (Miraculous Ladybug), F/M, Identity Reveal, It's part of Adrien's Tragic Backstory, Multi, Other, Slow Burn, but not in detail, pre-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-08-26 09:50:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 42,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16679323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellbreaker0234/pseuds/Hellbreaker0234
Summary: Aged up, 23-24, after university AU.Seven years ago, Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated Hawkmoth, and Gabriel Agreste was sentenced to life in prison. One month later, Adrien moved to America.A lot can change in seven years.Marinette is running an online lingerie boutique, having successfully made a name for herself in the fashion world.Adrien is coming back home to Paris to look for a fresh start after having his heart broken. He had a reputation for himself in America, after going crazy at the newfound freedom he was handed after years of being under his father’s thumb.New beginnings, old friendships, and the past coming back to haunt those trying desperately to escape it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic, so be gentle! I've never posted any of my writing anywhere before, but this idea grabbed me and refused to let go, much like the ML fandom itself. This has a Mature rating for a reason, mostly language and situations.

“I’m really gonna miss you, dude,” Nino said as the four friends sat down to Adrien’s goodbye lunch. It was their last chance to hang out together as a group before he went off to America to live with his cousin. Hawkmoth, Gabriel Agreste, had been defeated and arrested about a month prior and Adrien had been staying with Nino while social services tried to hunt down a relative to care for him. 

“I’m going to miss you guys too,” he replied as Nino, Alya, and Marinette settled down at the table with him. A waitress came by to take their orders before disappearing and Adrien continued. “I’ll come and visit as much as I can, though. And you all have my number, so we have to keep in touch. Plus, anytime you guys want to come visit me, just let me know and I can fly you guys out.”

“Have you talked to your cousin? The one you’re going to be staying with?” Alya asked as the waitress returned with their food and drinks. Adrien took a quick bite of his food before nodding, swallowing before he answered. 

“Yeah, he seems really cool. I mean, he’s not much older than we are and he said as long as I’m respectful to him and his house rules, he isn’t going to keep me under lock and key. I’ll actually have some freedom, so I’m happy about that.” He glanced over at Marinette, who was sitting quietly picking at her food. “Are you okay, ‘Nette?”

Her head shot up, her face flushed and started waving her hands around.

“Me?! Yeah, I’m okay. I should be the one asking you that. I know a lot is changing all at once and it’s a lot to process.” He smiled at her, silently glad she had outgrown her debilitating stuttering problem she seemed to get whenever he came around when they first met. She had slowly come out of her shell after the first year and he had gotten to see the witty, friendly, amazing girl that she was. He wished they’d had more time to get closer. 

“I’m okay. Yeah, it sucks with my father being locked up and all, but I’ve had some time to process that and I’m just trying to take everything as it comes.” 

“That’s good,” Alya piped in. “And you know any of us are only a phone call away if you ever need to talk.”

“I’ve noticed talking isn’t really his thing,” Nino said, laughing. “I’ve tried. He just gets all quiet and broody for a while and then he’s back to his normal self like nothing ever happened.” Marinette quirked an eyebrow at this, a look of thinly veiled concern on her face. That’s not exactly a healthy coping mechanism, she thought, taking another bite of her veggie wrap. Adrien let out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. 

“Anyway, let’s not make my bro’s last lunch here depressing,” Nino said before changing the subject. The four friends spent the rest of the afternoon talking and laughing before seeing Adrien off at the airport. They stayed, waving at him until he boarded the plane. Nino said bye to the girls before heading home, more upset about his best friends departure than he wanted to let on and Alya and Marinette headed to the bakery. 

“Do you really think he’s going to be okay?” Marinette asked. 

“I hope so. From what Nino told me, he’s dealing with this whole situation with his father by not dealing with it. It’s like he’s pushed all of those emotions back and locked them into a box. Nino tried to get him to talk, but Adrien always changed the subject.” 

“Yeah, I got kinda worried when that came up at lunch. Hopefully he tries to get into therapy or talks to his cousin or someone about it. It’s not healthy to keep it all bottled up like that.” Marinette sighed. 

“C’mon girl, let’s go eat our weight in cookies and watch cheesy comedies until we feel better. Adrien will be fine, I’m sure. Plus, we’ll still talk to him.” Alya said, throwing her arm around Marinette’s shoulders and walking into the bakery. 

That night, after Alya left, Ladybug sat at the top of the Eiffel Tower looking out over the city and waiting for Chat Noir. He never showed up. 

After months of searching and waiting, she returned her Miraculous to Master Fu, learning that Chat Noir had done the same. 

“I have a message for you from him,” Master Fu said, pouring them both a cup of tea. “That is, if you would like to hear it.” Marinette nodded. “He wanted me to tell you that he didn’t mean to ditch you, but a lot had come up in his civilian life and it was too painful to say goodbye. He hopes the two of you will meet again.”


	2. Chapter 2

_Seven years later._

 

Marinette woke up to her whirlwind of a best friend jumping on her bed. Groaning, she covered her head with a pillow and tried to go back to sleep, despite the bouncing. Alya snatched the pillow off of her head.

“Marinette, wake up, girl! It’s almost eleven and you promised you’d go to the airport with me to pick up Adrien,” she said, pulling on the smaller girl’s arm. 

“Remind me why I gave you a key to my apartment, again?” Marinette grumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Alya laughed before flopping down to sit next to her, producing a coffee cup from the nightstand beside her, which Marinette took gratefully before sitting up to get dressed.

“I saw all of the boxes beside your door,” Alya said as Marinette hunted down a pair of jeans. “Did you get your special orders done?”

Marinette had made a name for herself in the fashion world, running her own online lingerie boutique called Lucky Charm and successfully supporting herself without having to take on another job. She had built it from nothing in her bedroom at her parent’s house while attending Esmod and had managed to turn it into a full business by the time she graduated. While she kept her normal items stocked in her spare bedroom, she was sometimes commissioned for special orders.

“Oh, yeah. I finished it last night. I’m really happy with how it turned out,” she said, her face brightening even as she struggled to pull on her jeans while holding her coffee cup. “I’ve never incorporated leather into my lingerie designs before, so I really enjoyed working on it. And it looks so good, I’m thinking about adding a couple pieces that take inspiration from it later on.”

Finally getting her pants on, she pulled on a long sleeve tee before walking over to the bathroom to put on her makeup and brush her hair and teeth. Alya followed her, sitting on the edge of the bathtub and continuing the conversation. 

“I might have to get you to make me one of those. Think Nino would like it?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows at her friend in the mirror. Marinette laughed. 

“I’m pretty sure you could wear a potato sack to bed and Nino would love it if he knew he was going to get some.” she finished her makeup and brushed her hair before braiding it. “But I’ll definitely make you one. Maybe you can wear it on your anniversary. I could do some orange lace with it, or even red. But I personally think orange looks much better on you.” 

“Definitely the orange,” Alya said, standing. “Ready to go?”

The two piled into Alya’s car and headed to the airport. The car ride was mostly filled with music, the two girls singing and dancing. Marinette was trying very hard not to think about the nervous butterflies in her stomach. 

_I’m just nervous and excited about finally seeing an old friend after such a long time, she thought to herself as she scrolled on her phone to pick a new song. I’m very much over him, so why won’t these damn butterflies go away?_

“So, why is Adrien suddenly moving back to Paris? Not that I mind! It’ll be nice to see him again and for the four of us to be back together, but it was kind of sudden, wasn’t it?”

Alya slowed to a stop at a red light before turning to Marinette, chewing on her lip thoughtfully.

“Girl, you would know if you ever talked to him,” she teased lightly. 

“We talk,” Marinette defended. “On holidays and birthdays. But, I needed the distance so I could get over him. Now that I am, we can actually be friends this time. I just haven’t really heard much about him. I thought he liked being in America.” Alya turned into the airport parking lot, navigating to where they needed to go before parking. 

“Adrien is….a little different now. More confident and fun, definitely. He’s coming home to get a fresh start since that _bitch_ broke his heart.” Marinette raised an eyebrow, this was news. She hadn’t heard anything about a girlfriend, but she really hadn’t kept up with him much, either. 

“What happened?” Marinette asked timidly, noticing how Alya seemed to be plotting the death of whoever the heartbreaker was. Alya shook her head, her expression clearing. 

“It was a lot, honestly. Remember when Nino and I flew out to see him suddenly a few months ago because he needed his best friend?” Marinette nodded. “That’s when it all went down. I’ll give you the awful details later. But try not to mention it, okay?”

“Of course,” Marinette said. She wanted to help Adrien get the fresh start he was looking for. She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, following Alya inside to wait for him to get off the plane. 

Her heart was pounding as they waited. She wiped her sweaty palms against her jeans and fidgeted. Alya smirked at her, watching her out of the corner of her eye. Marinette forced herself to stop moving and tried to look more relaxed and casual. 

_Stop being so nervous_ , she chided herself. _You are a grownass woman and he is just an old friend. Just. A. Friend._

Alya straightened as people started coming off of the plane and Marinette’s fidgeting started again. 

_Calm down, dammit. Quit moving your hands so much!_

She clutched the strap of her purse across her chest as she looked for a familiar face in the crowd. 

_Calm down, Marinette. You were Ladybug, you can handle seeing an old friend._

Alya elbowed her and pointed before raising her hand and waving excitedly. Marinette looked in the direction she had been pointing. 

Her heart stuttered to a stop as Adrien came into view.

_Well, fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of right now, they don't have their miraculous. But I WILL tell you that they'll get them back later on in the story!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of your encouraging words! The story will start to pick up soon, I promise!

Adrien sauntered toward them as Marinette tried to restart her heart. He was gorgeous, decked out in boots, black jeans, a fitted black t-shirt and a black leather jacket. His long hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and sunglasses sat on top of his hair. He wore a chain around his neck that disappeared into his shirt. He was tall and only getting taller as he approached them, smiling big and pulling a cart full of suitcases behind him. 

“Close your mouth,” Alya whispered to her out of the side of her mouth. Marinette snapped her jaw shut before collecting herself and returning his smile with a small wave of her own. 

_Pull it together, Marinette. I am an adult and will not start drooling on the floor at my friend!_

Adrien reached them and scooped both girls up in a hug, Alya giggling while Marinette flushed all the way to her toes. 

“Man, am I happy to see you guys,” he said, releasing them before stepping back to look at them both. 

“Good to see you too, Sunshine. We’re glad you’re back home. Nino would be here, but he couldn’t get off of work. So, you’ll have to catch up with him tonight when he gets off.” Alya turned and motioned for him to follow them back to her car. 

“It’s really good to see you, Adrien,” Marinette said, her voice surprisingly steady despite her erratic heartbeat. He turned his smile on her and threw his arm around her shoulders. 

“I’m happy to see you, too, ‘Nette. I know we haven’t talked much, but I still missed you. I heard you’ve been busy selling your own designs online,” he said with an air of familiarity that helped to put her more at ease. She relaxed under his arm, happy that there was no hard feelings about her lack of communication. 

“Oh, yes! I have an online lingerie boutique called Lucky Charm! It’s been a lot more successful than I could have hoped for.” She smiled up at him as he laughed.

“That’s great! Too bad I can’t model any of your designs. Although, I’m sure people would pay to see that,” He winked at her and she let out a giggle as Alya smiled back at them, slowing down to fall in on Adrien’s other side. 

“Lucky Charm has been a huge success. Marinette is lucky, she gets to work from home and set her own schedule. I wish I could sleep until noon everyday like she does,” she said, shooting a playful look at Marinette, who smiled cheekily at her in response. The three of them laughed as they walked out of the airport to Alya’s car. They helped load his bags into the trunk and slid into the car. 

“So, Sunshine,” Alya started, grinning and pulling out of the parking lot and onto the main road. “I happened across a very interesting article about you the other day.” She glanced back at him and smirked as he dropped his head back against the seat and groaned. 

“Oh, god. Do I even want to know?” He asked, and Marinette turned to the side, interested. Alya laughed.

“Apparently, our little party boy got drunk at a party and decided to start stripping for everyone.” Marinette’s eyes widened a fraction and Adrien started laughing. 

“At least I was stopped before I took everything off. The reporters would have had a field day with that,” he replied through his laughter. “And I heard my moves were pretty sweet.” Alya let out another giggle. 

“Oh, yeah. There was a video. Who knew you had moves, Mr. Model?” Alya turned to glance at him before looking back at the road. “Now we know if modelling doesn’t work out for you, you can fall back on a career as a male stripper.” Marinette laughed, flushing at the thought and glancing at him. He would definitely make good money doing that. 

“I could be a real life Magic Mike,” he said, leaning forward to be closer to the conversation. Marinette leaned back slightly to give him room and she felt her face heating up again. 

_Alright, you have got to get this blushing under control_ , she mentally scolded herself. The conversation changed its course when Alya asked Adrien where he was going to be staying. 

“Hey! That’s Marinette’s building! Isn’t there an empty apartment a few doors down from you?” She asked and Marinette snapped to attention. Adrien was going to be staying in her apartment building?

“Yeah, the last people that lived there ended up getting kicked out for noise violation. The walls are pretty thick, so it usually isn’t an issue. I yell and scream at my sewing machine all the time and no one ever notices. But they would play insanely loud music all night. I think they were in a band or something. It was awful,” she recalled. “I actually think that’s one of the only empty ones, unless you’re going to be staying in a penthouse.” Adrien shook his head. 

“Nah, I don’t need anything big since it’s just going to be me living there. I just got a two bedroom, and even that is more space than I really need. But I figured it would be nice having a guest room. I have a very good friend from America that is planning to come and visit a lot, so that way she will have somewhere to stay when she does.” Marinette nodded and smiled at him. 

“Well, then. It looks like we’re going to be neighbors!” She was happy to have a friend living close by. Nino and Alya had an apartment together, but they were several blocks down and she often got bored sitting at home by herself.   
“This American friend of yours. Is this your partner in crime that I’ve read so much about?” Alya asked, turning onto the street leading to Marinette and Adrien’s apartment building. 

“You could say that. Although she usually serves to keep me out of more trouble than I manage to get myself into,” he laughed, shaking his head. “I think you and Nino briefly met her when you guys came over to help me out a few months ago, but she was, um, in ‘murder mode’.” Alya laughed, pulling over to the curb and parking. 

“Oh, yeah! Feisty little thing. I can’t wait to meet her properly whenever she visits.” Marinette was lost in thought as the three of them got out of the car and started pulling bags out of the trunk, not listening to Adrien and Alya’s conversation. She wondered what this friend of his was like, and how bad the breakup had to have been for this girl to have made people so mad. When she shook herself out of her thoughts, Alya was holding Adrien’s necklace in her hand and whispering furiously to him off to the side of the car. Since the chain was still around his neck, he had to bend down to her level in a very uncomfortable looking way. He was avoiding her gaze, the cheerful expression gone from his face. 

Quirking an eyebrow, Marinette made her way around the car to stand closer to them, catching the tail end of their whispered conversation. 

“--ring! She doesn’t deserve that kind of devotion after what she did to you,” Alya was whispering furiously. Adrien’s eyes slid over to Marinette and he straightened, pulling the necklace out of Alya’s grasp. Marinette caught a glimpse of a simple black ring at the end of the chain before it disappeared back under his shirt. 

“Drop it, Alya.” It was a warning, his eyes tightened as he kept his face carefully impassive. Alya looked ready to argue until she followed his line of sight and met Marinette’s questioning gaze. 

“After we get the bags inside, would you mind making a quick lunch while I help Sunshine start unpacking?” She asked and Adrien looked dismayed. Marinette could tell that he wasn’t looking forward to continuing whatever discussion they were having, but she knew Alya well enough to know that it was pointless to avoid it. 

“Sure, no problem! Chicken caesar wraps sound good?” She asked, lifting one of the suitcases and turning to walk inside, the other two following behind her. Adrien produced a key and unlocked the door two down from Marinette’s. “We’re neighbors!” she said, pointing to her door. Adrien smiled at her. 

“That’s a relief. It’ll be nice to have a friend so close,” he said, opening the door and walking inside. The place was set up identical to Marinette’s, and she navigated her way to where she knew the master bedroom was in the furnished apartment. Adrien must have had his furniture shipped over beforehand, a queen sized bed sat against the far wall of the bedroom with nightstands on either side, a dresser sat on the other side of the room with a tv on top of it. She sat the suitcase down and turned to face her friends. She smiled brightly at them before telling them that she was going to go make lunch. Adrien’s eyes widened and he looked over at the redhead beside him. 

“Good luck,” she threw over her shoulder, smirking at him before making her way to her apartment, leaving Adrien at Alya’s mercy.


	4. Chapter 4

When the door to Adrien's apartment closed behind Marinette, he turned to Alya with wide eyes. She crossed her arm, narrowing her eyes at him. 

“Alya-” he started, only to be interrupted. 

“Adrien, _why_ are you wearing your _wedding band_ around your neck?!” She exploded, waving her arms angrily. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned to open a bag, figuring this conversation would be easier if he was somewhat distracted while having it. 

“You don't understand,” he muttered, pulling out a few shirts and folding them on the bed.

“You're right. I don't understand. After everything that bitch did to you, why would you want to keep that?” She asked in a calmer tone, coming up beside him and arranging the folded clothes into piles. He took a deep breath, but didn't answer. 

“She cheated on you. With your best guy friend. She hurt you so much and I don't understand why you can't let her go.” She continued. He closed his eyes and stopped folding, taking another deep breath before answering.

“Alya. I lost my wife, my best friend, and the child that I thought was mine all in the course of one conversation. And you -- you know I don't cope with things very well. Part of me still loves her.” Alya opened her mouth to argue, to remind him of everything she had done and he held up his hand, taking another breath and opening his eyes to look at her. 

“I’m trying to process things one at a time. And you know I haven't been doing so good at that. That's part of the reason I'm here. I couldn't stay in that house any longer with reminders of her everywhere. But, getting rid of my ring will,” he paused, thinking. “It'll seem so much more real if I don't have something to hang onto right now.” 

Her features softened into a look of concern and she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“She doesn't deserve your love. And you didn't deserve to go through that. But you _need_ to let go of her.”

“And I will,” he said, picking up a folded like of shirts before walking across the room to put them away. “I'm just not ready yet.” Alya raised an eyebrow at his back and sighed. 

“Okay, I’ll let it go. For now,” she said, turning around to bring another pile of clothes to him. He sighed. 

The two were silent for some time, unpacking the bags and putting away clothes. Adrien didn't expect Alya to understand why he couldn't let Sara go, he didn't even fully understand himself. After several minutes had passed and most of the things put away in his bedroom, he turned to Alya.

“Does Marinette know?” He asked quietly. Alya shook her head. 

“It isn't my place to tell her everything. All she knows is that you went through a nasty breakup. But, you should probably open up to her. She cares about you, more than you know.” 

“I won't keep it from her. I just don't want any more pity, so I'm not exactly going to sit down and have a heart-to-heart about it. I'm sure she'll figure it out.” Having finished with the clothes in the last bag, he moved to the next, smaller bag to put away his toiletries. 

“She won't pity you, you know,” Alya said, moving behind him to stand in the doorway of the bathroom. “She'll just be concerned like Nino and I.” Adrien sighed in frustration, yanking the ponytail holder out of his hair before running his hand through the messy blond strands. 

“And I love you guys, I do. But I don't _need_ anybody else to be fucking concerned about me. I’m _fine_.”

“Uh-huh,” Alya hummed, rolling her eyes at him before deciding to drop the subject. She held up a folded stack of towels. “Where do you want these, Sunshine?”

Adrien was grateful for the subject change and pointed to the closet behind him in the bathroom. Thinking about Sara had put him in a shitty mood and he didn't want to spend his first day back in Paris being upset about things he couldn't change. He wasn't fine, not at all. He knew that. But he didn't want his friends being any more concerned about him than they already were. 

Glancing at himself in the mirror and deciding against pulling his hair back up, he ventured into the living room to finish putting things away. The weight of the ring was heavy against his chest and he put his hand over it. 

Alya found him sitting on the couch with his head down, staring at the floor with his hand up to his chest, absentmindedly rubbing at the cool black metal. Walking over to him, she grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet before wrapping him in a hug. 

“I'm sorry I brought it up,” She mumbled against his chest. “I'm just worried about you. But you're right, you need to do this at your pace and we are going to be here for you through all of it.” 

A moment passed before Adrien brought his arms up to hug his friend back, resting his cheek on top of her head. 

“Thanks,” he said quietly. She pulled back and looked at him, confused. He offered her a small smile. “For caring.” She smiled back, rolling her eyes and lightly punching him in the arm. 

“Of course, you dweeb,” She said. The door opened and Marinette peeked her head inside. 

“Is it safe to come in, or is Adrien still in trouble?” She asked, opening the door further when she saw them smiling. Adrien shook his head, putting a smile on his face. 

“Nah, you're fine. She's done scolding me,” he laughed. Marinette giggled before stepping inside, holding two plastic Tupperware dishes. Alya visibly brightened at the sight of food. 

“Good,” Marinette said, sitting the containers down on the kitchen counter. “Because I brought chicken wraps and chocolate chip cookies and I really didn't feel like waiting for you guys.” Alya and Adrien laughed, walking into the kitchen to grab the food, all tension from the previous conversation gone. Adrien forced Sara and his past out of his mind, focusing on enjoying his time with his two friends.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all's encouragement and comments mean the world to me. I'm glad to see people are interested in this! Adrien will end up telling Marinette about his past, but he's not ready yet. He's got some healing to do before he'll be ready to talk about it. But Marinette won't be kept in the dark for long.

Over the course of the next month, Adrien got settled into his new apartment and was enjoying life back in Paris with his friends. He had gotten to spend plenty of time with Nino, making up for all of the years that they were apart. Marinette had taken to spending a lot of time with him at either of their apartments and they had grown to be really close friends, something that he was incredibly happy about. She was funny, confident, and supportive and he had missed her more than he was willing to admit to himself. 

Slowly, he was getting over his divorce and everything surrounding it. He had started back working, still modelling until he decided to put his degree in Music Education to good use. 

He was cooking dinner at Marinette’s, planning on a night of video games and easy fun. 

“Adrien, your phone is ringing,” Marinette called from the living room as he was chopping vegetables for their meal. He had picked up cooking after he moved in with his cousin, who was a chef, and he really enjoyed it. Drying off his hands, he walked to the couch, taking the phone off of the table. 

“Ugh, again,” he complained before rejecting the call. Marinette looked over at him curiously from her sewing machine, where she was finishing up a commission piece. “I keep getting calls from this number, but every time I’ve answered it, there’s nobody there.” 

“Telemarketer?” She offered, pulling the deep blue babydoll from her sewing machine and placing it on her dress form for inspection. Adrien briefly thought about how great that would look on Marinette, before shaking his head and mentally slapping himself. 

“I guess. It’s annoying, though.” He locked his phone and placed it back on the table, heading into the kitchen to finish dinner. Once he finished chopping the vegetables and got everything into the oven to cook, he walked back into the living room. Marinette had the babydoll held up to her own chest, looking down at it thoughtfully, considering the length. 

Adrien froze mid step, nearly swallowing his tongue at the image that popped into his mind. 

_Cool it, Agreste. Don’t think about your friend like that._

Mentally rebooting his servers, he continued his trek into the living room and flopped onto the couch, toying with his necklace and watching as Marinette placed the piece back on the mannequin. 

“So, my friend Bridgette is coming to visit. You’ll finally get to meet her,” he said as she turned to print off a shipping label from her computer. 

“Really?” She said, looking up at him with a smile. “I can’t wait, from what you’ve told me she seems really cool.”

“She is,” he said, smiling back at Marinette. “She was one of the first real friend I made when I moved. She heard about everything with my father, but she didn’t coddle me or tiptoe around my feelings like everyone else did. I really needed someone like that. She was madly in love with my cousin Felix, though, and was convinced that she was going to marry him one day,” he said, laughing and shaking his head. “Luckily, she got over that before it got too weird.”

“When is she flying in?” Marinette asked, finishing up her work and walking over to sit on the other end of the couch, pulling her legs up and turning to face him. 

“Next Saturday,” he said. “She’s really excited to meet you guys. She’s already met Alya and Nino, kind of, but that wasn’t a very good meeting.” He rubbed the back of his neck and shot Marinette an embarrassed grin. “So, she isn’t counting that time.” Marinette nodded in understanding. 

“Wanna play Mecha Strike?” She asked, grinning deviously. “Loser makes cookies for the winner?”

“Oh, you’re on.”

The two battled it out until the timer on the oven beeped, pausing their game to eat before resuming their battle. Marinette destroyed him, keeping her title as the undefeated champion and Adrien threw his head back and groaned dramatically while she did a victory dance.

“You, dear, have to make me cookies this week,” she said, shooting him a smug grin. He rolled his eyes and laughed. 

“One day, I’ll beat you,” He said, getting up to clean the dishes in the kitchen. Marinette followed him to help, putting the leftover food away while he loaded the dishwasher. 

“Oh, I seriously doubt that,” she laughed, smacking him with a dish rag. “But you’re more than welcome to try.” 

After a few more games and some playful banter, he said goodbye and headed to his own apartment two doors down to turn in for the night. He was brushing his teeth for bed when his phone rang again. He ignored it, finishing his nighttime routine before heading into his bedroom and checking the caller I.D. It was the same number again. 

He let out an annoyed grunt and tossed the phone back down on the bed, turning to hint for a pair of shorts to sleep in. The phone rang again. Turning on his heel, he angrily stomped over to his phone, snatching it up and jabbing the answer button. 

“Who the hell is this and why do you keep calling me?” He growled into his phone. He heard breathing on the other line. “Hello?” He tried again. 

“Hey, babe,” answered a sultry feminine voice on the other end. Adrien froze, holding his breath as that voice brought on a wave of memories and emotions. “Do you miss me?” 

Adrien numbly ended the call, dropping the phone on the bed before sinking down to the floor, shaking. The phone rang again, but it barely registered in his mind. He was falling, falling down a dark hole of memories heavy with despair. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he wrapped his arms around them and put his head down, trying to fight the wave of darkness that was threatening to pull him under.

Adrien focused on taking deep, controlled breaths for several minutes until he calmed down enough to sit up. Taking several more breaths, he picked himself up off of the floor. Unfeeling, he turned and walked to his closet, pulling on jeans and a tee. He walked over to his bed to pull on socks and checked the time on his phone. It was only nine-thirty on a Friday, Nino would still be awake. He called him. 

“Whassup, bro,” Nino answered. 

“Hey. Are you free tonight?” Adrien asked, his voice carefully void of emotion, something that Nino instantly picked up on. 

“Yeah, Alya is working late on some article. What do you want to do?” He asked. Adrien heard rustling as Nino got up to get ready. 

“Want to meet me to get some drinks?” He asked.

“Sounds good,” he said, and Adrien heard the jingling of Nino’s keys. “There’s a bar between the two of us, should be walking distance from you, it is for me.”

“Sounds good,” Adrien said, pulling on his boots and grabbing his leather jacket, tossing his own keys in the inside pocket. “Text me the name of it and I’ll meet you there.”

 

Adrien found Nino at the small hole-in-the-wall bar and made his way over to him, ordering a drink and sitting down and looking around. The place was surprisingly uncrowded for a Friday night, for which Adrien was thankful. 

“Hey, man,” Adrien said, turning to his friend as the bartender slid his drink in front of him. Nino gave him a smile and sipped his own drink.

“What’s up?” He asked as Adrien took a swallow of his whisky, relishing the slight burn as it went down.

“Just needed to get out for a little while,” he said, looking around again. 

“So, are you gonna tell me what happened?” Nino asked, getting straight to the point. He knew Adrien well enough to know when something was wrong. Adrien cringed and finished his drink in one gulp before signalling the bartender for another one. 

“She called me.” 

Nino’s eyes widened and he also finished his drink and motioned for another one. 

“And you answered?” He asked incredulously as their new drinks were placed in front of them. 

“It was from a number I didn’t recognize. I’ve been getting calls from that number over and over for the past week, but every time I answered it, nobody was there so I figured it was just a particularly stupid telemarketer or something.” He took another long swallow before continuing. “But tonight, I answered it after ignoring it all day. I was annoyed and I asked who the hell it was and she answered.”

“What did she say?” Nino asked, carefully watching his best friend’s face. 

“‘Hey babe, do you miss me?’” Adrien recounted, before finishing his second drink. 

“What did you do?” Nino asked carefully, watching as Adrien motioned to the bartender again. 

“I hung up and called you,” he said. “Drinks are on me tonight, by the way.” Nino smiled and held up his glass. 

“I’ll drink to that, dude,” he said, taking a large swallow before lowering his glass and looking at Adrien. “But seriously, are you okay?”

“Yep, I just want to not think right now,” he said. Nino sighed, used to this routine by now and nodded, knowing that trying to talk him out of it was pointless. Instead, in a show of solidarity, Nino raised his glass again, clinking it against Adrien’s before they both finished them in one fell swoop. “Can I smoke in here?” Adrien asked, and Nino nodded, sliding an ashtray over to him as he lit a cigarette. He was used to this, too. 

“You only smoke when you drink,” he commented idly, and Adrien nodded, exhaling away from his friend’s face. 

“I know. It’s a bad habit,” he admitted, sipping his drink. “But, a lot of people do.” Nino motioned the bartender over. 

“Can I get two shots of Don Julio?” He asked and Adrien shot him a grin. 

“Are you trying to get me naked?” He asked, finally laughing. Nino smiled and handed him one of the shot glasses. 

“Duh.”


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette was pulled out of a dream by the sound of her phone ringing. Throwing out her hand and fumbling around blindly on the nightstand, she answered the call. 

“Hello?” She slurred, her voice thick with sleep. She cleared her throat and squinted at the clock beside the bed. Two in the morning. 

“Hey, girl,” Alya’s voice floated to her from the other line. “I’m really sorry to wake you up, but I need your help.” Marinette sat up, fully awake. 

“Is everything okay?” She asked, already getting out of bed to pull on some clothes. 

“Yeah, no need to panic or anything. Nino and Adrien went out for some drinks tonight and neither one of them can manage to make their way home. I’m about to leave to pick up Nino now, but can you meet me there to get Adrien? I can’t handle the both of them like this by myself. They’re heavy.”

“Sure, no problem,” Marinette said, frowning slightly. She had thought that Adrien had gone home and gone to bed. She hoped everything was okay, he hadn’t mentioned plans with Nino while he was with her. “Where are they?”

“They’re at Teddy’s right up the road. I recommend driving, unless you think you can carry Sunshine home,” Alya said, laughing. Marinette joined in on her laughter, pulling on a jacket and grabbing her keys. 

“Didn’t you know I have super strength, Alya? I can just toss him over my shoulder, no problem.” She locked her door before making her way to her car. “I’ll meet you there.” They hung up and Marinette pulled out onto the road, making her way to the bar. 

She wondered what prompted the sudden plans. Was everything okay? Adrien had seemed fine at dinner, and had been yawning when he left and said he was going to bed and she didn’t think he would lie to her. Especially about going out with Nino, so she assumed the plans were made last minute. 

Marinette arrived at the bar, parking and getting out to walk up to the door. She had beaten Alya there, and Nino was propped up against the building, sitting on the sidewalk, squinting at his phone. Beside him was Adrien, sprawled out flat on his back, idly smoking a cigarette and staring blankly at the street light above him. Nino noticed her first. 

“Heeeeey, Mar’nette is here,” he slurred, stumbling to his feet. She reached out to steady him as Alya pulled up and parked her own car. 

“Hey, Nino. Did you guys have a good time?” She asked. Alya walked over and slung her boyfriend’s arm around her shoulders, supporting him so he could stand. 

“Nope,” he said, gesturing in Adrien’s direction, his entire body following the movement. “He got a phone call from S’ra and he was -- he was-- upset.” The three friends stared at the blond on the ground, who still hadn’t seemed to notice their arrival. 

“Sara called him?” Alya asked and Nino nodded, looking at her lovingly. Alya shook her head. “I should have known that bitch would bother him. Are you sure you’ve got him, Marinette?” She looked over at her dark haired friend. 

“Oh, yeah. He won’t be a problem. I did this after Nath and I broke up, so I get it.” She said, walking over to crouch beside Adrien’s prone form. She poked his shoulder, plucking the cigarette out from between his fingers and putting it out. He rolled his head to the side to face her, squinting. “Hey there, handsome.” He gave her a small smile and she grabbed his hand, helping him to his feet.

“Let me know when you guys get home,” Alya said, waving and helping Nino to her car. 

“You too!” Marinette called after her before her and Adrien stumbled to her car. She dumped him in the passenger seat, leaning over him and buckling his seatbelt. 

“You smell good,” he slurred, leaning his head against her. Marinette felt herself flush, as she leaned out of the car and he flopped his head back against the seat. She giggled. 

“Well, thank you,” she said before shutting the door and walking over to the driver’s side. She paused for a second before opening the door, taking a few deep breaths and willing her face to go back to its normal color. When she started the car and looked over at Adrien, he was fiddling with the ring around his neck with a thoughtful look on his face. “You okay?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. She pulled onto the road and drove for a second before she spoke again. 

“You know, it’s okay to not be okay, Adrien,” she said quietly, glancing over at him before looking back at the road. He opened his eyes and looked at her, his gaze surprisingly steady for a someone so drunk. “When Nathanael and I broke up, I did exactly what you did tonight. I tried to drown my sorrows with Alya because I didn’t want to talk about it. And I was really scared to get into any kind of serious relationship after that for a while. I tried dating around, hooking up with a few guys who were nice enough. But I always ended up miserable again, calling her crying in the middle of the night wondering if something was wrong with me.” Marinette paused and looked at him. He was still staring at her and she smiled at him. “I opened up and talked about it after a while, and it helped a lot.”

He turned away at that, staring out the window before seemingly realizing that wasn’t a good idea. He grabbed his head and stared at the dash instead. 

“I’m not going to pressure you into talking. I’m not going to pry. I know there’s some things going on that you don’t want to talk about. And that’s okay.” Parking in front of their building, she leaned over and put her hand on his knee, prompting him to look at her. “Just know, whenever you’re ready to talk, I’m here. Okay?” 

Adrien hesitated for a few seconds before nodding. 

“Thank you,” he said, opening the car door. Marinette jumped out of the car and ran around to the passenger side to help him, managing to catch him right before he ate a face full of concrete. Throwing his arm around her shoulders, they managed to get to her door. He leaned against her as she unlocked the door and the two of them stumbled inside. 

“You can just crash here tonight,” she said, leading him to the couch. Once he sat down, she fluttered about her apartment, grabbing him a water bottle, aspirin, and a trash can and sitting the items beside the couch. Disappearing down the hall for a second, she returned with a pillow and a blanket. Adrien had fallen sideways onto the couch, laying on his side. She lifted his head, sliding the pillow underneath him and covered him with the blanket. He stared at her silently. 

Crouching down in front of him, she pushed his hair back from his forehead, running her fingers through it as she spoke. He closed his eyes, leaning into her touch.

“I know you’re going through a hard time, even if I don’t know the full story. I know you’re wearing a wedding band around your neck, and it obviously has a lot of meaning to you. And I’m not going to ask you a bunch of questions.” She brushed her thumb across his cheek and cupped his face in her hand. He opened his eyes, looking back at her. “But whenever you’re ready, just come to me and we’ll talk. I’ll make cocoa and we’ll sit down with cookies and a bunch of soft blankets and just talk about whatever you’re willing to share. You don’t have to go through whatever you’re going through alone.”

He reached out and pulled her to him, hugging her and taking her completely by surprise. Losing her balance, she fell to her knees and returned the hug as best she could. She waited until he let go before standing up. 

“I’ll be right down the hall if you need anything.” Running her fingers through his hair one last time, she walked down the hall to her bedroom, wondering what had her green-eyed boy so torn up inside.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Marinette awoke to the smell of coffee and bacon. Stumbling out of bed, she blearily made her way down the hall and into the kitchen. And froze. 

Adrien was at the stove, making breakfast for them. He had obviously gone back to his apartment to shower and change, as he was in a different set of clothes than the ones she remembered him in last night. Noticing her arrival, he poured her a cup of coffee, adding cream and sugar just how she liked it and pushing it over to her. She took it and brought the cup to her lips, still staring at him. 

Perched on his face was a pair of large, black, square rimmed glasses. And _damn_ did he look good in them. He looked at her and smiled. 

“I wanted to make breakfast for you to thank you for taking care of me last night. I’m really sorry you had to see me like that,” he said, turning off the stove and fixing each of them a plate. Marinette snapped to her senses as he handed her a plate of bacon with an egg white spinach and mushroom omelette. 

“Oh, it wasn’t a problem, really,” she said, sitting down at the table across from him. “I’m curious as to how you’re not hungover right now, though.” She took a bite of the eggs and hummed in appreciation. Adrien laughed. 

“I’ve actually never gotten a hangover,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. Marinette gaped at him. He shrugged. 

“Oh, you _ass_ ,” she said, throwing a piece of bacon at him. He laughed, catching the delicious projectile and taking a bite of it. “So, um, what’s with the..?” She trailed off, gesturing to her face. 

“Oh,” he laughed, pushing the glasses up on the bridge of his nose. “I fell asleep in my contacts last night, so I figured I’d take them out for a while this morning.” Marinette raised an eyebrow, chewing thoughtfully. 

“I didn’t even know you wore contacts. Or glasses.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m blind,” he laughed, shrugging, “but glasses aren’t good for modelling. I usually only wear them when I’m at home because the contacts get kind of irritating.” Marinette sipped her coffee, considering. 

“They look good,” she said finally, silently pleased at the slight pink tint that rose to his cheeks. He smiled at her.

“Thanks,” he said, taking the last bite of his food. “And, uh, thanks for what you said last night. When I’m ready to talk, I’ll come to you.” He avoided her gaze. This was obviously an uncomfortable subject for him. Marinette simply nodded, giving him a sweet smile. She stood up to put her plate in the sink and leaned against the counter, nursing her coffee as he put the dirty dishes in the sink. 

“Poor Nino is probably half dead right now,” she said, shaking her head and laughing. 

“Oh, I bet. I’m expecting a call from Alya any minute telling me that he’s my problem now,” he said, joining her in her laughter. “I did try to make him drink water between drinks though, so he shouldn’t be too bad off.” He crossed his arms and looked at her, his laughter dying off. “So, uh, I feel like I should give you a little bit of context about last night.”

Marinette finished her coffee, setting the cup in the sink before she looked at him. 

“Only if you’re comfortable with it,” she said. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. 

“I’m not ready to open up about everything yet, but I can tell you some things. I’m not purposefully trying to keep you in the dark.” Marinette nodded and grabbed his arm, pulling him over to the couch so they could speak comfortably. 

“Okay, then. I’m all ears,” she said, giving him an encouraging smile. His hand drifted up to his chest and played with the ring, a nervous gesture she had noticed over the past several weeks. 

“Well, I’m sure you gathered by now that, when I moved, I went a little wild. Especially after I graduated from high school.” She nodded, chuckling a little. She had definitely noticed. “Well, while I was still in University, I was dating this girl. We had been dating for a while and I was insanely in love with her. Pathetically so, actually. Over one of our breaks from school, we decided to go to Las Vegas. I was planning to propose to her whenever we got back. But, instead of doing that, we ended up getting really drunk one night and we got married.” He glanced up at Marinette, who held her breath and kept her face carefully composed, keeping her encouraging smile in place. 

“We decided to try and make it work. We had planned to get married anyway, so we just kind of went with it, I guess.” 

Marinette shifted, pulling her legs up under her and cocked her head to the side. 

“Can I ask what happened?” He looked around the room, picking his next words carefully, she could tell. 

“The relationship itself was really toxic. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was. Nino and Alya had tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen. I didn’t even tell them that we had gotten married until shit started to get really bad. And a lot of things happened. But I’m not ready to talk about that yet. Just know it ended very, very badly. She did things that I couldn’t forgive, so I left her, filed for a divorce and moved back here a few months after it was finalized.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes, still fiddling with the ring. 

“So, what happened last night?” Marinette asked, watching his face to make sure she wasn’t pushing him. He ran his hand through his hair and pushed his glasses up on his face. 

“You know that number that I said kept calling me?” She nodded, and he continued. “Well I answered it again last night and finally got a response. It was her. And with her voice came a flood of really dark memories and emotions that I don’t handle all that well. So, I called Nino and we went out. He tried getting me to talk but I just wanted to stop thinking for a little bit. And you pretty much know how it went from there.” 

“I get it,” Marinette said after a moment, still silently reeling over the face that he had been _married_. He looked up at her, a shocked expression on his face. “I sometimes have a hard time processing my emotions too. And from what I understand, this wasn’t a normal breakup. Some bad things obviously happened. So, really. I understand.” He gave her a timid smile and dropped his hand back down to his lap. 

“Thank you. For everything,” he said, leaning forward to hug her. She returned the hug, smiling and shaking her head. 

“I’m your friend, Adrien. That’s what I’m here for, you don’t have to thank me.” Adrien’s phone chimed as a text message came through, and he leaned back to check it, laughing. 

“Alya said Nino is convinced that he’s dying. He told her he’s leaving me his music collection,” he laughed, typing out a quick reply.

“He’d better leave me something, too,” Marinette said, giggling. “I’m the one that makes all of Alya’s lingerie that he loves so much.” She picked up her phone to text Alya. Her and Adrien spent the next several minutes laughing at their friend’s dramatics, the tension of the previous conversation being erased from the room. Marinette smiled to herself, happy that Adrien had been able to open up to her, even if it was just a little bit. 

The two decided to meet Alya and the dying Nino for lunch, Adrien disappearing to his apartment to put his contacts back in while Marinette got herself ready.


	8. Chapter 8

Marinette and Adrien walked over to a small cafe to meet Nino and Alya together, chatting idly. He laughed at a comment she made, and she looked up at him, smiling. The sight of him, laughing with his head thrown back, caused her heart to skip a beat and a blush rose to her face. 

_Dammit, Marinette, quit thinking about how beautiful he is. Pull yourself together_ , she screamed at herself in her mind. 

Walking into the cafe, they found their friends and sat down across from them, ordering their drinks. Nino glared at Adrien, who simply smiled back at him. 

“Dude, I hate you for never getting a hangover. But I also love you for making me drink water last night between shots,” he said, resting his chin in his hands. 

“You seem to be feeling better today,” Alya said, glancing at him over her menu. He nodded, bringing his hand up to the back of his neck. 

“Yeah. ‘Nette and I talked some. I just had a little setback last night, I was really caught off guard,” he explained. Alya smiled at Marinette, giving her a subtle thumbs up. 

“Well, I’m glad you’re alright now, Sunshine,” Alya said, smiling at him across the table. The waitress came by with Marinette and Adrien’s drink and the four of them ordered their food. 

“So, I already told Marinette, but Bridgette is going to be visiting. She’s flying in next week,” he said and Alya brightened. 

“I’m glad, I want to officially meet her when she isn’t in the middle of a homicidal rage,” she said and Nino laughed. 

“Yeah, bro. She scared the shit out of me last time, I’m not going to lie. I never want her anger directed at me, that’s for sure.” He took a sip of his soda. “How long is she going to be here?”

“About a month,” Adrien said. “She’s got some saved up vacation time at her job and she said if she doesn’t get away from her coworkers, she’s going to burn the place down.” Marinette smiled, happy that she would have plenty of time to get to know the friend that was so important to Adrien. The waitress returned with their food, and they thanked her as she set the plates down. She shot a shy smile at Adrien, who returned with with a wink and a smile. The waitress blushed, hurrying away and Marinette rolled her eyes, grinning into her hand and sympathizing with the flustered waitress. 

“Alya,” Marinette spoke up, grabbing the attention of her friend. “I have your dress done for the gala next weekend. I just need you to come by for a fitting between now and then so I can make sure everything is right.” Alya smiled, bouncing in her seat and Adrien turned to Marinette. 

“You were invited to that, too?” He asked, smiling brightly. 

“Yeah! Alya is my plus one, there are going to be a ton of photographers and journalists covering the event, so I figured she would like to meet them.” She said, taking a bite of her chicken. 

“I’m so excited,” Alya said, beaming. “I get to dress up and drink fancy champagne and pretend to be high class for a night.” The others at the table laughed. 

“Nino, are you going?” Adrien asked, turning to his sluggish friend. 

“Definitely not. I’ll be in the studio that night, working on a few mixes. I have some ideas if you want to get together and jam sometime soon, by the way. But, nah. I’m not going anywhere near that fancy pants party,” he said, shaking his head and shoving a bite of food into his mouth. Adrien laughed. 

“Well, it looks like I’ll see you ladies there,” he said, looking at the girls. “And how does tonight sound, Nino?” Nino perked up. 

“Bring your guitar, I have ideas,” he said, hangover dramatics suddenly forgotten, chatting animatedly about the songs he was working on. Marinette watched the exchange curiously, not knowing that Adrien was so into music. She knew he had played piano when they were younger, but didn’t know much more than that. She idly wondered if she could convince him to play something for her one day. 

Alya tapped her on the hand, shooting her a look and raising her eyebrows, glancing at Adrien. Marinette shook her head, trying not to give her best friend the motivation to try and play matchmaker. She was over Adrien, and had the dating history to prove it. They were friends and nothing more. 

She was still trying to wrap her mind around all of the information Adrien had given her about his past. He had gotten _married_. Fourteen year old Marinette would have had a mental breakdown at the thought, but she was an adult now and she was over that childish crush. 

She chatted with her friends, laughing and smiling and eating her lunch. She was glad to see Adrien acting like himself again. The quiet, dejected Adrien of the previous night had worried her. She had been up half the night agonizing over how to help him, wondering exactly what had happened to him. 

She silently hoped that she never got the opportunity to meet this Sara girl, because she couldn't promise that she wouldn't punch her in the face.


	9. Chapter 9

“Quit moving, girl,” Alya scolded as she held a curling wand to Marinette’s hair. They were getting ready for the gala, treating the whole day as a ‘spa day’ to get ready for the event and to spend some much needed time together. It was a two hours before the gala was scheduled to begin, and Alya was working her magic on Marinette's hair. 

“Are you nervous?” Alya asked as she arranged the curled tendrils of hair on Marinette’s head with skilled fingers. Marinette raised an eyebrow at her in the mirror. 

“Not really. This isn't my first upscale fashion event,” she said, watching as Alya coaxed her hair onto a beautiful updo, with curls falling to frame her face. “Are you?”

“A little,” Alya admitted, fussing over an errant curl. “Which is weird, because I never get nervous.” Marinette giggled and Alya shot her a look. 

“You’ll be fine. It’s normal to be nervous, this is something completely new. But you’ll be alright. I’m the definition of clumsy and I do okay,” she laughed, standing up once Alya was finished with her hair. 

“That’s true,” Alya said thoughtfully, checking her reflection in the mirror to make sure that her hair was still in place. She had styled it into a beautiful braid that wrapped around from one side of her head to the other before trailing over her left shoulder. Standing side by side at the mirror, the girls started on their makeup. 

“Wasn’t Adrien supposed to pick up Bridgette this morning?” Marinette asked after several minutes of quietly working on her face. 

“He was. Hopefully we will get to meet her tomorrow,” Alya said, applying a gloss to her lips, smacking them together a few times before standing back to look at herself. Marinette mimicked her a few seconds later, applying a matte dark red stain to her own lips. They looked at each other, nodding to communicate that they both looked good. 

Making their way to Marinette’s bedroom, they slipped on their dresses. Marinette had tirelessly worked on both of them and she was incredibly pleased with the way that they turned out. Alya’s dress was a burnt orange strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline that hugged her form before flowing at the bottom, the color gradient going from orange to yellow as it went. Alya had squealed in delight when she saw it, which made Marinette even more proud of her creation. 

Her own dress was a deep red, with a high neck and a plunging back. It fit her body like a glove, and made her think back to her Ladybug days with a fond appreciation. Paired with her dark eye makeup and black strappy heels, Marinette felt beautiful. 

“Damn, girl, you are going to give some people a heart attack in that dress. You look _hot_ ,” Alya exclaimed appreciatively. Marinette smiled at her, grabbing her clutch before stepping forward to showcase the slit up the side of her dress that ended mid thigh. Alya dramatically fanned herself, causing her friend to laugh. Alya grabbed her silver clutch and they walked out the door. 

 

“Oh, wow,” Alya breathed as they entered the ballroom of Le Grand Paris hotel. A large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling in the center of the room, several golden draped tables lined the large room, leaving a wide open space in the center for dancing and socializing. Several people were already there, and Marinette looked around for a familiar blond head. She didn’t see him as they crossed the room, locating the table with their place cards and setting down their clutches. 

More and more people piled in, and Marinette talked to several other designers while Alya went off to mingle with the journalists. A few companies asked about adding Marinette’s lingerie line to their collection for the next spring, and she took their information so that she could be in touch if she decided to do so. 

“Excuse me, miss,” an older woman asked, walking up to her with her husband in tow. “May I ask who you’re wearing?” 

“This is one of my own designs,” she said, giving the woman a polite smile. The woman walked around her, inspecting the dress and Marinette stood still, feeling slightly like she was on a specimen dish. 

“It is very lovely,” she said, a smile finally breaking through her stern expression. “You have quite the gift.”

“Thank you very much,” Marinette said, giving a genuine smile before the woman excused herself, dragging her poor, uncomfortable looking husband to someone else to speak to. Marinette grabbed a champagne flute off of the tray of a passing waiter, taking a small sip and surveying the room. The band was playing a waltz and several people were dancing. She paid little attention to them, still searching the room for Adrien. There were so many people, she was sure she was missing him. 

She spied Alya heading back to their table after a while and made her way over to her. 

“How are you holding up?” She asked as Alya grabbed her own glass of champagne from a passing tray. She took a sip before turning to smile at Marinette. 

“I got a job offer,” she said, beaming. Marinette gave her a big smile. She had hoped that bringing Alya to this event would open up opportunities for her. Alya detested the small gossip magazine she worked for and had been hoping to work her way up to a more reputable job in her career. 

“That’s amazing!” Marinette grabbed her friend in a side hug, glad that she had been able to help. The two girls turned to survey the dancefloor as the band began to play a tango. Only a few couples remained on the floor, most opting out of such a daring dance in fear of embarrassing themselves. One couple, however, had Marinette rooted to the spot. 

Adrien sauntered onto the dancefloor smiling, with a dark haired girl in a beautiful, pink knee length dress on his arm, spinning her to face him as they began the dance. Marinette saw the girl laugh, falling into step with him. They danced beautifully together. Marinette dimly heard Alya speaking to her, but she was focused on Adrien and the mystery girl. 

They moved as if they were one person, and the other couples on the floor stopped dancing and moved aside to watch them in stunned appreciation. Their feet and bodies moved in complex ways, never breaking rhythm. She laughed as Adrien dipped her before pulling her up and continuing their dance. 

They owned the floor, painting the sound of the music with their bodies. 

“Damn, I didn’t know Sunshine could move like that,” Alya said, finally grabbing Marinette’s attention. She looked over at her, but Alya wasn’t looking back. She was watching the dance in amused appreciation. 

Marinette started to feel very, very, _very_ intimidated by the mystery woman and she didn’t know why. The chemistry between the two dancers was insane. It seemed that they had everyone in the room trapped under their spell, but they paid no mind to the audience that had gathered around them. Marinette downed the rest of her champagne, snagging another glass when the waiter passed. 

The dance came to an end and the room exploded into applause. She saw Adrien flush, rubbing the back of his neck before dipping into a little bow. His partner, also looking slightly pink in the face, dropped into a little curtsey before they made their way back into the crowd, stopping to speak to several people. After a minute, the music picked back up and couples slowly started to drift back onto the floor. 

“That was _amazing_ ,” Alya said, looking at Marinette’s stunned face. “I didn’t know he had that in him.” She waited to grab Adrien’s attention before waving them over, oblivious to Marinette’s inner turmoil. 

_Does he already have a new girlfriend?_

Marinette glanced over at them as they approached, getting stopped by several people on their way.

_Why is my heart beating so fast?_

They slowly made their way over, Adrien smiling brightly at them. 

“Alya! Marinette! We’ve been looking for you guys,” he said, finally coming close enough to pull them both into a quick hug. 

“We saw your little performance out there,” Alya said, laughing as Adrien and the mystery girl blushed. 

“It was amazing,” Marinette said, snapping out of her thoughts. She faced Adrien’s friend and stuck out her hand, smiling. “I’m Marinette.” The girl shook her hand, her face lighting up before she jumped in to hug Marinette. 

“Ohmygosh! I’m so happy to meet you! Adrien has told me so much about you guys.” She pulled back and smiled brightly at Marinette. “I’m Bridgette.”


	10. Chapter 10

The longer Marinette and Alya talked to Bridgette, the more at ease Marinette started to feel. She seemed to have picked up on Marinette’s initial discomfort, and quickly put any concerns she may have had about their relationship to rest once Adrien had been pulled away to speak to somebody. They were just really good friends, and Marinette had no reason to worry. 

_Though, why was I so worried in the first place?_ She asked herself. 

“So, Adrien said you’re here for a month?” Alya asked and Bridgette nodded enthusiastically, her straight hair bouncing around her face. 

“Yes, and I am so excited to get to know you guys,” she said. “He’s been so much happier since he’s been back home and I assume it’s largely because of you two and Nino. Thank you so much for being so amazing for him.” 

“Of course, girl,” Alya said, bumping Marinette’s shoulder with her own. “We would do anything for Adrien.” Marinette nodded her agreement, glancing over at him. He caught her gaze, giving her a smile before excusing himself from the man he was talking to and coming over. He sidled up beside Marinette, putting his arm around her shoulders. She felt her face flush again, mentally cursing. 

“I didn’t get the chance to say a minute ago, but you look beautiful tonight, ‘Nette.” He looked up at Alya. “You both do.” Alya smiled, shooting him a playful wink and sashaying her hips, making him laugh. 

A slow, beautiful instrumental floated over to them from the band. 

“Dance with me?” He asked, looking at Marinette. Her eyes widened and she looked up at him. 

“Oh, uh, s-sure,” she stuttered, internally cringing at herself. He pulled his arm back from her shoulders, grabbing her hand and leading her to the dance floor. “I should warn you,” she said as they made their way, “I’m a terrible dancer.”

He chuckled, turning to face her and pulling her close. 

“Just follow my lead,” he said gently. He placed his hand on her bare lower back and Marinette felt electricity travel up her spine. They danced slowly at first, swaying and letting Marinette get a feel for the rhythm before they picked up their pace to the tempo of the music. She tripped once, and he compensated for it, steadying her and making it look like part of their dance. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alya and Bridgette talking by the table, sending cheeky glances at the two of them every couple of seconds. Her face heated up and she briefly wondered what they were talking about before turning her attention back to Adrien. 

They fell into an easy rhythm; _left, forward, right, back, turn._ Marinette felt graceful dancing with him, he was a very strong dance partner. He compensated for her missteps and twirled her whenever she started to get lost. She felt a strange sense of deja vu, as if she had been moving in tandem with him her entire life. 

“You’re overthinking it,” he said softly when she stepped on his foot yet again. She looked up at him apologetically, only to be met with a gentle smile. “Get out of your head, ‘Nette. You’re doing great.” 

She forced herself to stop thinking about the steps and allowed herself to just move with him and the dance when smoothly after that. She smiled up at him to see him already looking down at her with that same gentle smile on his face. Marinette was fairly certain that her face was the same color as her dress. 

Too soon, the song came to an end and Adrien pulled back, smiling at her before grabbing her hand, swooping low to place a kiss on her knuckles. 

Marinette froze for a split second, thinking of a very different boy with the same intense eyes doing the same so long ago. Pushing the thought from her head, she smiled at Adrien and poked him on the nose. He got a strange, faraway look on his face before quickly shaking it off and chuckling at her. 

The two of them headed back to the table where their friends were waiting for them. Alya and Bridgette wore identical smug, suggestive smiles on their faces, staring as the two approached hand in hand. Marinette noticed and dropped his hand, bringing her hand up to fan her face a few times. The other two girls giggled. 

“How many broken toes do you have, Sunshine?” Alya asked Adrien as Marinette worked to compose herself. Adrien laughed again. 

“None, she did great.” He shot her an encouraging smile. 

The rest of the party passed in a blur of socializing and laughing with friends. Towards the end of the night, the band began to play more upbeat music as the older crowd started to thin out. Marinette danced with Alya, and then with Bridgette when Alya danced with Adrien for a while. 

“Do you guys want to go home and change and then go get something to eat?” Adrien asked sometime later. “I’m starving.” 

Words of agreement passed among the friends and they piled into their cars to head to Marinette and Adrien’s apartment building. They changed quickly into casual clothes before heading back out, opting to walk to the nearest pizza place since it was such a nice night. 

Ordering a large pizza and drinks, Alya called Nino to see if he wanted to meet them there. He arrived only fifteen minutes later. He and Bridgette got acquainted, and soon the conversation between the four of them was easy and familiar. The new addition fit right into their friend group like she had always been there, sharing stories about the things she and Adrien got up to in school. 

“So, Adrien was hanging from the balcony to hide from this girl’s dad, right?” She said, laughing as she remembered. 

“Bri,” Adrien whined playfully, throwing his head back and groaning. The others laughed and she continued her story. 

“But he didn’t have time to get dressed beforehand, according to him. So he drops from this girl’s second story balcony, completely naked, and lands in her bushes. Shows up at my window, covered in scratches, leaves in his hair with half of a trash bag wrapped around his waist in the middle of the night.” The table exploded into laughter. 

“And then you laughed at me for a good ten minutes before you even let me in,” he said, shooting her a halfhearted glare. 

“Dude, why didn’t you just run home?” Nino asked through his laughter. 

“My house was nearly two more miles away!” Adrien defended. “I had clothes at Bri’s house because I used to stay there all the time. I wasn’t about to run the rest of the way home naked in the dead of winter.” The table dissolved into another fit of giggles. 

“And then this other time,” Bri started again. 

“Noooo,” Adrien said, groaning again, laughing as he picked his head back up. 

“It was his twenty-first birthday,” she continued. 

“Oh my God,” Adrien said, eyes widening comically, causing another fit of giggles to ripple through Marinette, Nino, and Alya as they leaned forward eagerly. 

“I decided to take him to the strip club for his birthday. He gets a couple tequila shots in him, gets up on stage, and upstages the girls,” she finished, laughing along with everyone else. 

The four friends chatted happily, exchanging stories until the restaurant closed and they had to head home for the night. Marinette walked into her apartment, flopping onto her bed and falling asleep fully clothed with a smile on her face.


	11. Chapter 11

About a week had passed since Bridgette came to Paris and Adrien was happy to note that she was fitting in with their friend group perfectly. Marinette and Alya had included her in their girl's day, taking her shopping and to lunch, getting along as if she had always been there. He had been worried that his friends wouldn't be so welcoming to a stranger, but his worries had been put to rest almost immediately. 

“So, Marinette is cute,” she said, casually leaning against the doorframe of Adrien's bedroom. He looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. 

“I don't think she's into girls, Bri,” he said, laughing and closing his laptop. Bridgette giggled and crossed the room and hopping onto his bed, sitting with her legs under her. 

“She is,” she stated matter-of-factly. “But I'm not interested in her like that. Plus, Felix still has my heart.” She crossed her hands over her chest and swooned dramatically. Adrien laughed and shook his head. 

“He's too old for you, we've been over this,” he said, lightly shoving her. 

“He's only five years older than me, kitten.” Adrien rolled his eyes. “But, Marinette. You think she's cute, right?” Adrien flushed. 

“Of course. I think she's beautiful.” He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “Why?” 

“No reason,” she said, shrugging with an air of forced nonchalance. “You two are really close.”

“And? She's one of my best friends,” he said. Bridgette laughed at him, rearranging herself so that she sat leaning back on her hands, looking up at the ceiling fan. 

“ _Friends_.” She said, putting a hand against her forehead and falling back onto the bed. Adrien chuckled at his friend. She had always had a flair for the dramatic. 

“Yes, friends,” he said, poking her side with his foot. She turned to her head to the side to look at him, a mischievous look in her eyes. 

“But would you ever date her?” Adrien sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

“You know better than anyone that a relationship is the last thing I need right now,” he said. Bridgette sat up. 

“Well, _duh_. I meant in the future. I think she would be really good for you,” she said, smiling at him with wide eyes. 

“She is my friend, Bri. Just like you,” he said, giving her a pointed look. Her friendly smile changed, resembling the cat that caught the canary. 

“Need I remind you that we used to date for a little while?” She asked, laughing at him. 

“Need I remind you that we broke it off because it was _weird_?” He shot back. Bridgette cocked her head to the side. 

“Very true,” she laughed, recalling their awkward and all around strange first time getting physical. “But, some people are better as friends. Like us.” 

“Exactly. ‘Nette is my friend,” Adrien reiterated. Bridget shot him a Cheshire cat grin. 

“I didn't hear you say _no_ ,” she sang, jumping off the bed and skipping to the door. Adrien flushed, getting up to chase after her. 

“Bri,” he whined. He followed her out into the living room. She laughed, not answering him as she rummaged around in his refrigerator, grabbing them both a drink. 

Handing him his soda, she walked around to the couch before flopping down on it, sprawling out and grabbing the remote to the tv. Clearly, she had gotten what she wanted out of the conversation and wouldn't continue it. Rolling his eyes, he walked over to the couch, falling backwards onto her. 

“Oh my God, get off!” She laughed, pushing against his back. Adrien pretended not to hear her, deliberately letting his body go limp and becoming impossible to move. “Kitten,” she whined, still laughing and pushing against him. 

Adrien let out a loud snore that quickly turned into a yelp as Bridgette started attacking his sides, tickling him until he rolled off of her and onto the floor. Catching his breath, he looked up at her only to be smacked in the face with a throw pillow. He narrowed his eyes, jumping up and snatching the pillow from the other side of the couch. 

“Oh, it’s on.”

 

Outside in the hallway, a tall, leggy redhead listened at Adrien's door, hearing the muffled giggles and thumps from the pillow war going on inside. She straightened quickly, pretending to be looking at her phone when an elderly neighbor walked out of his own apartment a few doors down. 

“Miss?” He asked politely, having never seem the woman before. “Are you lost?” She glanced up at him, giving him a dazzling smile and tossing her hair over her shoulder.

“No, I'm just waiting on my friend to answer the door,” she said in accented French. The man nodded at her, returning her smile before continuing on his way out of the building.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, putting her phone away and waiting until he was out of sight before quickly making her own exit. She turned and disappeared into the crowd of people walking along the sidewalks, clutching at the dragon shaped pendant around her neck.


	12. Chapter 12

“Alya, do you ever feel like you’re being watched?” Marinette asked hesitantly after having been unable to shake the feeling for several days. The two girls were in Alya and Nino’s apartment making cookies for Nino when he got home. He had been having a rough week at work and Alya had taken the day off, calling for Marinette’s help to make a nice dinner and dessert to surprise him with. Alya turned to her friend with her eyebrows raised. 

“Girl, Nino practically undresses me with his eyes everytime I walk into a room,” she laughed, grabbing the flour and sugar from the pantry. “Other than that, though? No, not really. Why?” She brought the items over to Marinette, watching her as she measured out the ingredients and dumping them into the mixing bowl. 

“I don’t know. I’ve been having that feeling for a few days now.” She turned on the mixer, carefully pouring chocolate chips into the batter as the bowl spun. Alya turned to pull some vegetables from the fridge and walked over to the sink to wash them. 

“Stress, maybe? You’ve been getting a lot of sqecial orders lately. And you’ve added the new leather and lace line to your website, so you’ve been busy,” she offered, turning off the faucet and taking place at the cutting board beside Marinette. 

“That’s probably it,” Marinette said after a moment of consideration, placing carefully rolled balls of dough on a cookie sheet. 

 

Later that night, Marinette got ready for bed. She paced around her apartment, triple checking the locks on her door and windows. Living in a first floor apartment made her twice as paranoid and she shut the blinds and pulled the curtains on all of her windows. 

Walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water, Marinette still couldn’t make herself wind down enough to go to sleep. Every noise made her jump and her skin was crawling with the weight of imaginary eyes. She considered calling Adrien to see if she could stay over there for the night and then decided against it. 

_I am a grown ass woman. I can stay in my own apartment by myself_ , she thought bitterly. She knew that Adrien would let her stay over there without hesitation and Bridgette would probably even offer her the guest bedroom and sleep on the couch, but she didn’t want to freak out over nothing. She didn’t know why she was so anxious and it was driving her crazy. 

She was caught up on all of her work and had plenty of items for her new lingerie line stocked with the rest of her inventory in her spare room. All but one of her special orders were finished, and the one that was still in progress was over halfway done. She finished her drink and sat the empty glass in the dishwasher. 

Footsteps in the hallway grabbed her attention and she ran over to the door, pressing her face against it and looking through the peep-hole. Someone she recognized, but didn’t know personally, walked down the hallway to their door, staring down at their phone. Marinette released a breath she hadn’t realized that she had been holding and stepped away from the door. 

_Get a grip, girl. There is nothing wrong._

She heard the bushes outside her window rustle and whirled around, on high alert. Cautiously, she made her way over to the window, pulling the curtain back just enough to look through with a shaking hand. She peered into the darkness outside, her face close to the glass.

The bushes sat on the ground, undisturbed, mocking her. Stepping back from the window, she took a deep breath and moved to sit on the couch. 

_It’s wind, stupid. Chill the fuck out._

Picking up the remote, she considered for a second before turning on the tv, figuring that the deafening silence in her home was only making her anxiety worse. She flipped through the channels for a few minutes before finally settling on a cooking show, keeping the volume just high enough to be able to hear it. 

Marinette fidgeted, picking up her sketchbook and attempting to work on some designs. She scribbled out and erased several ideas before ripping the page out in frustration, balling it up and setting the book back down on the table, running her hand through her hair and exhaling sharply through her nose. 

She heard the bushes outside again and gripped the edge of the couch cushion, forcing herself to stay put and not run to the window again. 

“It’s just the wind,” she said aloud to the empty apartment. She stood up and started pacing again, checking all of the locks for a fourth time. “This is ridiculous.” 

She walked over to her sewing desk, hoping that the thought consuming task of piecing her designs together would be enough to calm her frayed nerves. She pulled the near-finished commission piece off of the dress form and set to work. 

When she finished that three hours later, she still hadn’t shaken off the feeling of being watched. She grabbed some more fabric and her sketch pad, deciding to work on a sundress she had designed several weeks prior. She worked on the dress for another hour before pushing away from the sewing machine, frustrated and restless. 

Marinette set to pacing around her apartment again, idly picking up and organizing as she made her rounds before getting out cleaning supplies and scrubbing her kitchen from top to bottom. Once she finished, she moved to the living room. 

She checked the locks a fifth time. As she moved the curtains to check the lock on the last window in her living room, she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Her head whipped around to look more closely, seeing nothing. Growling in frustration, she moved to her hall bathroom, scrubbing every surface. 

When she finished, she moved to her own bathroom to take a shower before heading to bed, laying down and jumping at every noise she heard until exhaustion finally overtook her and she fell into a fitful sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Adrien was roused from sleep by the feeling of a hand sliding down his bare chest. He turned his head to the side, eyes still closed and certain that he was dreaming. Another hand joined the first and he felt fingernails lightly making their way down from his collarbone to his stomach. 

_Definitely not dreaming._

His eyes shot open and he sat up, snatching the glasses from his nightstand and quickly putting them on. Familiar hazel eyes stared into his own bewildered gaze. His breath caught in his throat and he pushed his back far against the headboard. 

Sara kneeled at the foot of his bed, wearing a black corset top and lacy black boyshort underwear, a sinful smile on her lips. 

“What are you doing here?” He rasped, his voice still thick with sleep. Sara tilted her head, long red hair tumbling free over her bare shoulder. She reached back up to touch him again, and he pushed her hand away, stumbling out of the bed and backing away from her. 

She crawled slowly up the bed before stepping off of it, stepping toward him. He held up his hands and took another step back. 

“Sara, _what_ the _fuck_ are you doing here?” He asked, voice clearer and laced with thinly veiled panic. 

“I came to bring you back home, baby,” she said softly, quickly crossing the distance between them and placing her hand back on his chest, pushing him backwards until his back came into contact with the wall. He stared at her with wide eyes, pushing her hand away. 

“I am home,” he said, voice stern. “And you need to leave.”

She shook her head, stepping even closer and pressing her body against his. He pressed against the wall even further, trying to get away from her. 

“We can work it out. You know how good we are together.” Her hands found their way to the waistband of his sweatpants, resting there. He put his hands on her waist and gently pushed her away, not wanting to hurt or shove her. 

“No, Sara,” he said firmly, stepping away from the wall and reaching for the doorknob beside him. “You need to leave before I call the police. Go home.”

“Home for me is wherever you are,” she said, trying to come at him again. He threw open the door and backed into the hall, hands up to fend her off. 

“Get out,” he said, voice loud and clear. She followed him as he backed into the living room, like a cat stalking her prey. 

“But, babe--”

“I said _get out_ , Sara!” She stopped, looking as if she had been slapped. She poked her lip out in a pout that he had once found himself unable to say no to and looked up at him through her eyelashes. 

“But I love you,” she said, sounding almost like a scolded child. Adrien shook his head, never taking his eyes off of her. 

“No, you don’t,” he snapped. “You never did.” 

“We belong together,” she said, undeterred. She stepped toward him again, her bare feet sliding against the carpet. “We were going to have a family.”

“You _cheated_ on me. For years. With one of my best friends. Or did you forget that?” He was shaking, though he wasn’t sure if it was from rage, panic, or the onslaught of emotions that seeing her brought forth. She took another step forward, ignoring the look that he tried to pin her with. 

“You’re my husband,” she said, her voice as smooth as silk. 

“Not anymore.”

“You _bitch_ ,” Bridgette snarled, grabbing Sara by the hair from behind her and throwing her to the ground. She stepped between Adrien and the girl kneeling on the floor in shock. 

“How _dare_ you come in here and try this shit. Are you fucking stupid?” Bridgette yelled as Sara got back to her feet. “You know what you did to him and you have the _fucking nerve_ to come in here and try to get him back?!”

She lunged at the girl and Adrien grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back against him. Bridgette fought against him and, while she was strong for her size, he was stronger. 

“Bri,” he said, but she either didn’t hear him or didn’t care. 

“You unfaithful, crazy fucking bitch! You made a huge mistake coming here and you won’t be going home unless it’s in a _coffin_ ,” she lunged for her again, but Adrien held strong. He didn’t want to protect Sara, but knew that if he let Bridgette go, she would wind up in jail. 

Sara stepped toward them, just out of Bridgette’s reach. 

“It seems that you have no qualms shacking up with him, I see.” She said, her tone nasty. She turned to Adrien and gave him a look that was supposed to be sultry, but only served to make his skin crawl. 

“I’ll forgive you for this, babe. Just come back home with me and we’ll work through it.”

“Like hell,” he said, beginning to struggle with the flailing mass of pure rage in his arms. 

“ _You’ll_ forgive _him?!_ He hasn’t done anything to be forgiven _for!_ Adrien let go of me so I can kill this bitch!” Bridgette was seething. In all of the years he had known her, he had never seen her so angry. 

“Sara, you need to leave,” he said again. Her face morphed into a sneer. 

“Why? So you can go to bed with your _whore_ of a friend?” The comment had taken him by surprise and his grip loosened just enough for Bridgette to shoot forward, slapping Sara across the face hard enough to knock her back to the floor. 

She held a hand to her face and looked up at them, tears pooling in her eyes. 

“You _will_ come back to me, Adrien. We _belong_ together.” She snapped, lowering the hand that held her face. 

Marinette chose that moment to come through the door. 

Sara, moving surprisingly quick, bolted for the door, knocking Marinette to the side and taking off into the night. Bridgette finally managed to break free of Adrien’s grip and tore off after her. 

“I heard yelling,” Marinette said, a shocked look on her face. Adrien raked a hand through his hair before dragging it down his face, knocking his glasses askew as he did so. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down and not dissolve into a panicked wreck in front of his friend. 

“I guess it’s time that I told you the whole story.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Miscarriage 
> 
> It isn't detailed at all, but it is mentioned. 
> 
> Giant wall of dialogue headed your way, this chapter was actually really difficult to write.

Marinette made Adrien wait on the couch as she ran to her apartment, returning a few minutes later with a container of cookies, hot cocoa, and her two softest blankets. She walked over to where Adrien was sitting on the couch and wrapped one of the blankets around his shoulders and handing him a mug of hot chocolate. She sat down beside him, getting herself settled before turning to face him, pulling her legs up. 

“You don’t have to tell me anything, you know,” she assured him in a gentle voice. “I can just be here for you if that’s what you need.” He shook his head, also turning to curl up on the couch and looked at her. 

“Something tells me that this is going to get worse, so I feel like you should know everything,” he said and lifted the cup, sipping the warm drink. 

“Well...okay. But you don’t have to tell me anything you’re uncomfortable with.” Marinette said. Adrien gave her a small smile. 

“I’m comfortable telling you everything.” He said. He took a cookie out of the container, taking the time to gather his thoughts as he finished it. 

Marinette waited patiently as he contemplated where to begin his story. Taking a deep breath, he started at the very beginning. 

“I met Sara my first year of University. She was beautiful, sweet, and fun. She had this personality that just made you want to be around her. She showed an interest in me and I honestly felt like the luckiest guy in the world.” He paused, giving a smile full of regret. 

Marinette reached forward and rubbed his shoulder, silently communicating that he could take his time. He put his hand over her own for a second before removing it. 

“We were friends first. But we started dating pretty quickly. We had an instant connection, something that I had only felt once before her a long time ago. At the time, I was already partying too much and making some really bad decisions. And she encouraged that. We went out more, drank more, partied more.” 

He paused, thinking back and chuckling. 

“Bri hated her from the start. She told me that Sara was no good for me but I didn’t listen. And she stuck beside me through all of the ups and downs of our relationship because that’s just the kind of person she is.” He took another sip of his drink. 

“Bridgette is a really great friend,” Marinette said. “Should we be worried about her running after Sara right now?” Adrien shook his head. 

“I had this friend named Noah. He had been my friend in high school too and we ended up going to the same University. So, the three of us hung out a lot. Him and Sara got along great and I was glad. Sara and I got very serious, very fast. Her parents loved me and made me feel like I was a part of the family.” He paused, clearing his throat. 

He picked at the seam of the blanket for a few minutes before continuing. Marinette stayed silent, never rushing him and he was incredibly grateful for that. 

“I already told you about how we went to Vegas, got way too drunk and got married at one of the many awful chapels there. It wasn’t ideal by any means, but we went with it. Like I said, we had been really serious for a while and had talked about marriage anyway. We were already living together at the time, so nothing really changed other than we had rings to wear.” 

He cleared his throat, fighting against the lump that tried to form there. Marinette placed her hand on his knee in a show of support. He took a deep breath. 

“A while after we graduated, I came home from a photoshoot and she had made me dinner. It was awful, but I had loved the fact that she had tried. She told me she was pregnant and I was so incredibly happy.” 

Adrien heard her suck in a breath in surprise and he waited, but she remained silent. He put his hand over hers on his knee, drawing strength from her. 

“It was really early, but we went out and bought all of this baby stuff. A crib, bassinet, dresser, a ton of stuff and cleaned out our spare bedroom to turn into the baby’s room.” He felt his eyes start to mist over and blinked hard. 

Marinette rubbed his knee with her thumb, patiently waiting as he collected himself. 

“I came home a week later and she was crying. She had lost the baby. See, I thought that she had quit drinking and smoking and doing who knows what when she found out. I cleaned my act up immediately and I assumed that she had done the same, but she hadn’t. I'm not saying that caused it, of course. It wasn't her fault or anybody else's. But that had also brought up a lot of issues between us. But we lost the baby.”

He tightened his grip on the blanket with his other hand, moving his other hand off of Marinette’s on his knee to mess with the ring around his neck. 

“I comforted her. We got through it. We said it just wasn’t meant to be right now. But then, about three months later, we got into a fight. I had gotten home from work early and caught Noah sneaking out of the house with his shirt on backwards and his hair all fucked up. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had been going on.

“So we fought. She told me that the baby that we lost might not had even been mine. And she had been sleeping with Noah behind my back for years. I left for a few hours to cool off. When I got back, I was willing to forgive and forget. Which was stupid, I know. But I loved her and wanted things to work.” 

He laughed bitterly at his own stupidity. 

“When I came home, Noah was there again. I walked to our bedroom and caught them in the act. Punches were thrown between him and I, words were said, and I told her to get her shit and leave. I filed for a divorce the next day.” 

“That’s awful,” Marinette said softly. 

“I was an absolute wreck. Bri found me one night, drunk off my ass laying in an alley crying my eyes out. And from there, it got worse before I finally took the steps to get better. Sara harassed me for a while, going so far as to actually try to drug me, so I changed my number and moved here. And now she’s tracked me back down.” 

Adrien looked up at Marinette for the first time since he had started his story, dreading the pity he knew that was going to be in her eyes. When he looked, though, there was no pity to be seen. Her gaze was filled with understanding and love and she reached forward and hugged him. 

“Thank you for telling me.” She said, pulling back. 

At that moment, Bridgette burst back through the door, out of breath and disheveled. She bent over, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath as the other two stared at her curiously. 

“That stupid bitch got away,” she said angrily. “Damn, she’s fast.”

Adrien laughed, pulling himself from the darkness of the past, reeling at the events of the night.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the last chapter a bit to clear up that Adrien was not at all blaming Sara for losing the baby. That it read that way was a huge oversight on my part, sorry. Sometimes those things happen and it's not the woman's fault at all. 
> 
> But it's fixed now! Thank you for all of your encouraging comments, they mean so much to me (:

“Wait, so Sara broke into your house?!” Alya exclaimed. The five friends were sitting in Marinette’s apartment discussing the events of the previous night. 

“Dude,” Nino breathed in disbelief. Adrien nodded. 

“I know,” he said, voice bitter. Marinette and Bridgette both placed a hand on his shoulders, trying to offer comfort. 

“Did you call the police?” Alya asked, placing her hands on the coffee table and leaving forward slightly. 

“I did,” Bridgette said. “After I got back. But since she was gone and didn't steal or damage anything, there was nothing they could really do.” 

“That blows,” Nino said, leaning back and crossing his arms. “She needs to be locked up. Or sedated.”

“Or killed,” Bridgette and Alya muttered in unison. They shared a look and a smile passed between them. 

“No,” Marinette said. “Adrien needs you two here and _not_ in prison.” 

“I can extend my trip and cancel my flight this weekend,” Bridgette offered, looking at Adrien intently. He shook his head. 

“No, I'll be fine. I don't want you to lose your job over this. And I'll keep you updated and call you if I need you, don't worry.” 

“We'll take care of him,” Marinette assured her and Bridgette nodded after a moment of hesitation. 

“So, what now?” Alya asked. 

“After Bri leaves, Adrien is going to stay here with me,” Marinette said. The man in question stared at her. 

“I'll be fine in my own apartment,” he said and Marinette held up her hand, silencing his argument before it left his lips. 

“No, you'll stay here with me. Bri and I already discussed it. This girl is insane and you shouldn't be alone. She already broke in once, I'm sure she will do it again if she knows you're by yourself.” Bridgette nodded, agreeing with Marinette. 

“I'll help you clean out the spare room,” Alya offered. Nino nodded. 

“Yeah, me too. And you can keep your extra inventory at our place if you need the room. You already have a key, so you can come and get whatever you need to be shipped whenever you need to.” He looked at Adrien and smiled. “We’ve got your back, man.” 

Adrien sighed, realizing that there was no use arguing. On the bright side, he would get to spend even more time with Marinette. So, that was a good thing coming out of a terrible situation. 

“Thanks, guys,” he said, smiling at each of his friends. 

 

Over the course of the rest of the week, the friends worked to clean out Marinette's spare bedroom to make room for Adrien. She _hated_ Sara with every fiber of her being and wanted Adrien to be able to put his past behind him and move on with a nice girl. 

_Someone like me_ , she thought absently. She froze, frowning at the thought that crossed her mind.

_Don't think about things like that while he's going through this. You are his_ friend.

“You okay over there?” Alya asked as she carefully loaded some bra and panty sets into a labelled box. Marinette waved her hands in front of her face, giving a frantic smile. 

“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just, uh, thinking about what to pack up next,” she said quickly. Alya gave her a disbelieving look, but didn't press any further.

The girls made quick work of Marinette's inventory, passing the boxes over to Nino who was taking them out to his car. Alya put sheets on the bed in the room and Marinette hung up thick curtains she had made over the window, just to be safe. 

Adrien and Bridgette came over to once Bridgette had finished packing so that she could say goodbye. 

“I’m really going to miss you guys,” she said sadly, hugging Alya, Nino, and Marinette tightly. 

“Us too,” Alya said, putting an arm around her. 

“You have all of our numbers though,” Marinette said brightly. “So you definitely have to keep in touch.” Bridgette nodded enthusiastically.

“Oh, yes. Definitely. And I'll be back sometime around Christmas.” Nino came over and clapped her on the shoulder. 

“Good. We'll have to make some plans,” he said happily. “I'll be off of work around that time, so I'll be able to hang out more, too.” 

“We've gotta get going if I’m going to get you to the airport in time,” Adrien said softly, grabbing Bridgette's hand. She looked up at him. 

“You're right, kitten.” She turned back to the others and smiled at them. “I'll see you guys in December!” 

They walked her out to Adrien's car, waving as they pulled off and headed toward the airport. 

“Man, I'm really going to miss her,” Alya said as they turned to head back inside. Nino and Marinette muttered their agreement. 

 

Sara watched the trio enter the building from the shadows across the street, her eyes narrowing. They were the ones keeping her Adrien away from her, they needed to go. She had been watching Marinette especially over the past several days, noticing how close she was with him. 

She didn't like it. Her hand clutched at the pendant again. 

She had hoped that Adrien would listen to reason, to give up his foolishness and come back to her. After all, it wasn't _her_ fault that she had cheated. She just simply wanted them both. 

And nothing would stop her from getting what she wanted.


	16. Chapter 16

To say that Marinette was surprised to see a familiar looking box on her bed when she got home from grocery shopping would have been an understatement of epic proportions. However, she didn't hesitate to run over to it, popping open the lid excitedly. 

A familiar red creature appeared in front of her, looking at her with happy, big blue eyes. 

“Tikki!” Marinette exclaimed, cupping the kwami in her hands and bringing her up to her face to cuddle her for a second. 

“Marinette!” Tikki chirped, hugging the girl's cheek. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“I missed you so much, Tikki,” Marinette said, pulling her back to look the kwami in the face. “But, um, why are you here?” The tiny god floated up to be eye level with her. 

“Somebody broke into Master Fu's and stole a Miraculous. A new villain could be on the loose,” she said worriedly. Marinette's eyes widened in concern.

“A new villain? But how?” She turned to sit on her bed, pulling up her knees so that Tikki could rest on one of them. “Nobody else is supposed to know about the Miraculous. And they're in that super freaky box, anyway. No one but the guardian knows how to open it.” 

“We don't know,” Tikki said apprehensively, shaking her head. “But we need you and Chat Noir to get it back once they reveal themselves.”

“Chat Noir?” Marinette asked hopefully. She would get to see him again. Her heart soared.

She had been heartbroken when he disappeared, having lost one of her very best friends. She had even been angry for a while. But as she got older, she understood. Things happened sometimes, life forced people to make last minute decisions and he hadn't known her identity to say a proper goodbye. 

She harbored no ill feelings toward her Kitty, but she had really missed him. 

“His Miraculous has been delivered to him, too. But be careful. The two of you have to remain hidden until the new villain appears,” Tikki warned. The news disappointed Marinette a little bit. 

She had missed the rush of power that came with transforming into her alter ego. She longed to take her place back on the rooftops of her beloved city. And she was dying to see her Kitty again. 

“I understand, Tikki,” Marinette said, pushing down her disappointment. She retrieved the familiar earrings from the box, putting them on and smiling at the feeling of wearing them again. 

Giving up her Miraculous had been one of the hardest things she had ever had to do, but it had been necessary. Ladybug had no longer been needed, she and Chat Noir had done their job. But knowing that hadn't made saying goodbye to her tiny red friend any easier. 

She scooped the kwami up off of her knee and placed a kiss on top of her head. 

“I'm so glad to have you back, Tikki.”

 

Coming home from a photoshoot, Adrien jumped in the shower to wash the makeup and hair product away before going to pack a bag to stay at Marinette's. He hated to feel like he was imposing in his friend, but she had insisted. A part of him was relieved, though. He wasn't sure what he would do if Sara broke in again while he was alone. 

Walking out of the bathroom and into his room in a towel, he quickly got dressed and grabbed a bag, turning to put it on the bed. 

He froze. 

Sitting in the middle of the bed was a box he hadn't seen for many, many years. He dropped the bag and rushed over to it, opening the box and releasing Plagg. The tiny cat god stretched dramatically as he hovered, letting out a groan. 

“Man, is it good to be out of there.” He looked at Adrien and smirked. “Good to see you, kid. I'm starving.”

Adrien gaped at him, having temporarily forgotten how to form words. He had thought he would never see his kwami again, had hated having to give him up. 

“Plagg,” he sputtered. “How..?” The kwami floated over and perched on top of his head. 

“Cheese first, then I'll explain,” he grumbled, lightly tugging on Adrien's hair to urge him to the kitchen. Adrien numbly obeyed, opening the refrigerator and retrieving a block of cheddar cheese. 

Plagg pounced on the block, taking a huge bite. 

“Add Camembert to your grocery list,” he said around a mouthful. “This will do for now.”

“Don't take this the wrong way, because I'm incredibly happy to see you. But, what are you doing here?” Adrien asked, his mind kicking back into gear. He lifted his hand for Plagg to settle down onto his palm, patting his full belly. 

“A miraculous was stolen, so you and Ladybug need to get it back,” he said. Adrien's eyebrows shot to his hairline.

“Ladybug,” he whispered, breathless. Oh, how he had missed his Lady. 

“Don't get all mushy on me yet, kid. You have to stay hidden until the new enemy shows themselves,” Plagg said, much to Adrien's disappointment. 

Crossing to his room, he picked the discarded bag up off of the floor and set to packing, catching his small friend up on the events of the past seven years. 

“So, we're going to be staying at Marinette's for a while,” he finished, zipping the bag. 

“I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, kid,” Plagg said in a rare moment of sincerity. Adrien scratched him lightly behind the ear. 

“It's not your fault, buddy. You had to stay in Paris, I get that.” He walked around and checked the locks on all of the windows, chatting to the kwami that sat on his shoulder. 

Adrien was reeling. He was going to get to see his Lady again. He hoped she didn't hate him for leaving the way he did, but he hadn't been able to say goodbye. At the time, he had barely been able to hold it together with everything else happening in his life, having to see her face and tell her that he was leaving would have completely undone him.

So, he had left a message for her with Master Fu, trusting that the guardian would give it to her when he saw her next. It had taken some time to get over his feelings for her. He had been heartbroken, but over time he came to terms with never seeing her again. 

But, now, knowing that he would get to see her beautiful blue eyes again soon, all of those feelings came rushing back, hitting him like a sledgehammer. He really, _really_ hoped that she didn't hate him. 

Satisfied that everything in his apartment was locked and secure, he went back to his room to retrieve his bag, hoisting it over his shoulder and grabbing his leather jacket. Plagg settled into the pocket of the jacket to remain out of sight. 

While having a new enemy loose in Paris again sucked, he was happy to have Plagg back. He slipped the ring onto his finger, the familiar weight giving him a sense of comfort and security.

“I'm glad you're back, Plagg,” he said, walking to the door to head over to Marinette's place 

“Me too, kid,” the kwami said quietly from his pocket.


	17. Chapter 17

Living with Adrien, however temporarily, had turned out to be great. He woke up before her and always had coffee ready for her when she emerged from her room in the mornings. Seeing his smile and hearing his cheerful ‘good morning’ was the perfect start to every day. They cooked together, moving around each other in the kitchen flawlessly as if they had been living together for years. 

Marinette had been sure to fill Tikki in on the recent events before he came over the first day, and she kept herself hidden, content with being free in Marinette's bedroom for the time being. When the time came, transforming would be difficult if Adrien was still staying over, but she would figure it out. 

She still couldn't shake the feeling of invisible eyes watching her, but having someone else in her home with her made her feel a little bit better. Still, every night, she obsessively checked the locks before bed and every day when she left to go anywhere.

Walking into the kitchen, Marinette ducked under Adrien's left arm to grab a knife to help him with dinner. 

“How was your photoshoot?” She asked, idly chopping the garlic he had set out. 

“Awful,” he admitted, grimacing at the onion he was cutting. “I had the most annoying photographer and the model I had to pose with was _such_ a diva.” He rolled his eyes. 

“How bad was she?” Marinette asked, chuckling and dumping the garlic in the heated pan. Adrien gave her an annoyed look. 

“She threw a fit and caused the entire shoot to be on hold for two hours because they didn't have sparkling water.”

A laugh that Marinette couldn't contain flew out of her mouth, imagining the scene. 

“Seriously?” She snorted as she moved out of his way at the stove. He nodded, rolling his eyes. 

“How did your day go?” Adrien asked, working his magic on their meal. Marinette leaned against the counter beside him and shrugged. 

“I had to go to Nino and Alya's to ship some orders out. Other than that, I cleaned and got some designing done. I'm thinking about adding another line to my website in a couple of months, so I was getting some ideas onto paper.” He looked over at her curiously. 

“Can I see some of the ideas?” He asked. Marinette raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. 

“Do you really want to look at drawings of lingerie?” She asked, giggling. He laughed with her. 

“Of course. Everything you design is amazing,” he said and she felt her face flush at the compliment. She went into the living room to retrieve her sketch book and headed back to the kitchen. 

“So, the leather and lace line inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and try something a little edgier,” she said, opening to the page she had been drawing on earlier. She pointed to one of the sketches. “This would be made of mesh, and this one over here would have a lot of straps and buckles.”

She explained her ideas animatedly as Adrien looked on in red-faced wonder. Part of her hoped that his red face was an indication that he was thinking about how _she_ would look in some of the designs, but she pushed that part down and locked it in a box at the back of her mind. 

“What do you think?” She asked, grinning up at him. 

“Uh -- I, um,” he spluttered, bringing his hand to the back of his neck, the tips of his ears turning red. “They're really good, ‘Nette. I can't wait to see what else you come up with.” 

Her face warmed and she busied herself with closing the sketch book and gathering up the loose papers that had fallen out. 

“What's this?” He asked, grabbing one of the papers off the table and looking at it more closely. Realizing which design he held, Marinette's face _burned_.

“Oh, that,” she said, plucking the paper from his fingers and looking at it. It was a black leather corset top with green lace trim that had tiny green lace paw prints running across one hip and traveling up to curl under the breast. “That's just a personal design for myself.”

Her voice sounded calm and unruffled, contrasting with her pounding heart and scarlet face. Adrien had turned a similar shade of red. He cleared his throat, turning back to the stove. 

“It's nice,” he said absently, rubbing the back of his neck again. Marinette watched him closely, wondering what was running through his mind. He turned off the burner and fiddled with the food a little while longer. 

When he turned back around, a light pink color was still dusting across his cheekbones. 

“Dinner is done,” he said, smiling at her. She snapped back to attention and ran to put her sketch book back on her desk while he made plates. 

The design didn't come up again for the rest of the night, but Marinette noticed every time he got lost in thought, his face would flush and he would shift as if he was trying to get comfortable. 

_I wonder what that's about_ , she wondered to herself as she bid him goodnight and went to get ready for bed, snagging a few cookies off the counter for Tikki on her way.


	18. Chapter 18

Sara crouched in the bushes outside of Marinette’s living room window. Adrien had been staying with the girl for several days, and Sara did _not_ like it. Looking through a crack in the blinds, she could see them playing video games, laughing and playfully shoving each other. She had thought that with Adrien’s volatile friend gone, she would be able to make him see things her way. 

Evidently, she had his other friends to worry about too. They wanted to keep him from her. 

Shifting slightly to get a better angle to watch them, she frowned at the fond smile he gave the girl as she did a victory dance. Sara had been watching Marinette for a while, trying to see how close she was with Adrien and determine if she was a threat. After watching the way the two interacted, Sara determined that she most definitely _was_. And that meant that Marinette needed to go.

She had met his other two loathsome friends, the journalist and the musician, years before when they had came by to visit and they hadn’t gotten along. She had tried to forbid Adrien from speaking to them but he hadn’t listened. He was blind and didn’t realize that they were trying to jeopardize his happiness. 

Adrien belonged with her. She was the only one that made him truly happy. Sara liked to think that she knew him better than anyone. She hadn’t seen his betrayal coming, though. But Sara was nothing if not forgiving. She could forgive him for getting so angry and acting so irrationally. She could even forgive him for sleeping with other women after he had left her. And, while it was difficult, she could forgive him for moving away from her. 

All he needed to do was come back home with her so they could be happy. 

Through the window, Adrien leaned back and draped his arm over the back of the couch behind Marinette, who casually leaned against him while flipping through the channels on the tv. Sara’s fists clenched of their own accord. How _dare_ that tramp touch her husband?

Sara needed to talk to him, to convince him to leave this divorce nonsense alone and come back to her. However, he wouldn’t see her, he wouldn’t speak to her. So, she had to follow him. She had to make sure that he wasn’t going to stray and go after another woman. 

When she saw that he wasn’t staying in his own apartment, Sara had been hurt. After all, his stupid little friend had gone back home. They could be together without her interrupting them. He was just being so stubborn. 

She had a plan though. 

When Adrien had first moved back, she had followed him. She couldn’t let him go too far without her; he needed her. He had gone to visit an elderly man, Fu, or something was his name. They had talked for a long time about Adrien’s past in Paris. 

Adrien had been _special_. She had heard everything. So, she watched this Fu guy very closely for quite a while. Through her observings, she learned that the old man protected the things that had given Adrien his powers. So, that was when she made her plan. 

After all, if she was special, too, he would _have_ to talk to her and come to his senses. 

She waited until the old man left and snuck in through his window. He had foolishly left it unlocked, basically inviting her in. She had watched him retrieve the strange box with the jewels in it many times over the course of her time observing him. 

She located the box easily, opening it and staring at the many special-powered items inside. Grabbing one at random, she replaced the box and snuck back out of the window. She watched the man for several more days to see if he noticed that something was missing, but he never checked in that time. 

Sara was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of laughter from inside the apartment. She narrowed her eyes at what she saw. 

Adrien was tickling Marinette and she was smacking him with a throw pillow. They were both howling with laughter. Sara _hated_ it. 

_She_ was supposed to be the only one to make him laugh like that. 

Sara had tried to get him to see the truth before he left. She had even tracked him down at a bar and slipped something in his drink while he wasn't looking. Her plan had been to take him home and take care of him. Then, he would see that he needed her. 

Her plan hadn't worked. That stupid friend of his, Bridgette, had been with him and noticed him acting strange. She had been the one to take him home and care for him. 

Bridgette had convinced him to go to the police. They couldn't pin anything on her, of course. There was no proof. Sara had been careful. They all wanted to take her Adrien away from her. 

Not anymore. 

With one last glare at the laughing pair inside the apartment, she snuck away. It was time for her to make Adrien realize, once and for all, that she was the one he belonged with.


	19. Chapter 19

Tikki, what am I going to do?” Marinette groaned, flopping face first onto her bed. The red kwami perched on the pillow beside her chosen’s face. 

“About what, Marinette?” She asked. Marinette turned her face to the side and blew her bangs out of her face. 

“The _feelings_. They’re coming back with a vengeance. I thought I was over Adrien but everytime I’m around him, I just get slapped in the face with how _not_ over him I am.” Marinette rolled over onto her back, lifting a hand and running it through her hair. “But, his close friend having feelings for him is honestly the last thing he needs right now. I feel so selfish.” Tikki rested a paw against the girl’s cheek. 

“Don’t feel selfish, Marinette. You can’t help how you feel. The two of you are very close and he cares about you deeply. He wouldn’t think you’re selfish, either.” Marinette looked at the little red bug. 

“But what do I do?” She asked in a small voice. “He doesn’t need someone trying to start a relationship right now. And he’s in no emotional state to be feeling the same way towards me right now, even if he does eventually.” 

“Be his friend, just like you are now. He needs you and I’m positive you’re making this whole situation so much easier on him. You make him laugh and keep him from being alone and trapped in his thoughts. You’re doing exactly the right thing right now.” Tikki said, patting Marinette’s cheek affectionately. 

“You’re right. We can deal with the feelings issue in the future. Right now, I’m happy being his friend and being here for him in his time of need. Thank you, Tikki.” With one last nuzzle against her cheek, Tikki flew off to her cookie stash in Marinette’s dresser. 

Marinette rolled over and flipped on the tv across the room for background noise. The news was on, and she picked up her sketchbook to work on a jacket she was designing for Adrien. 

“--the citizens are advised to remain indoors until the authorities work to contain the issue.” Marinette snapped to attention, turning up the volume. 

“If you see anything suspicious, we urge you to call the police immediately. As of right now, the fires are being contained. Residents in the area are being evacuated as a safety precaution.” A concerned looking news reporter stood in front of the Seine, firefighters were behind her working to contain the flames licking at the bridge. 

“Tikki,” Marinette said, her voice concerned. The kwami flew over to see the tv and quickly zipped over to her chosen. 

“This is the work of the Dragon Miraculous. You need to transform!” Marinette jumped up, her designs forgotten. Quickly peeking out of her bedroom and down the hall to make sure Adrien was in his room, she shut and locked her own door. 

“Tikki, spots on!” She whispered. A familiar pink light engulfed her, giving her a rush of power. She felt stronger, lighter, invincible. She felt _whole_ again for the first time since she had given up her Miraculous seven years ago. Ladybug stood in Marinette’s place and she took a moment to glance down at herself. Her suit had changed. 

The bottom of her suit disappeared into red and black spotted combat looking boots and was black up to her mid-thighs before the familiar red with black spots appeared. From what she could see, the collar was solid black as well, coming down into a ‘v’, stopping at the middle of her chest. Looking at her arms, black came up to her elbows as well. 

She had her trusty yo-yo at her hip, like usual. Her hair was in a braid down her back. Pulling the hair over her shoulder, she saw it was tied with a red ribbon. Marinette didn’t have time to check out any other changes to her suit. Crossing to the window, she quickly checked her surroundings before hopping out. 

She blindly tossed her yo-yo and swung up to the nearest building, relishing in the feeling of being weightless again. She swung from building to building for a while, savoring the feeling of the wind on her face, before coming to a stop on a rooftop several blocks away from her apartment building. 

Hands on her hips, she stood on the edge of the roof and surveyed her city. She could see smoke rising several streets over and she jumped, throwing out her yo-yo again and relying on muscle memory, heading towards the fires. The few people that were still out on the streets pointed up at her excitedly as she swung overhead and she waved at them. 

She landed beside the Seine as the last of the fires was put out. The few police that were there startled at her appearance, but let her through without a fuss. 

“Ladybug!” Officer Roger Raincomprix shouted, jogging up to her. “Boy, are we glad to see you.” She smiled at him, extending her hand for him to shake. 

“Did you see what caused these fires?” She asked. He crossed his arms and looked over to the scene thoughtfully. 

“Well, I was not on the scene when they happened. But several eyewitness accounts described a woman in dark red that almost blended into the night. A few of them claimed that she started the fires with just her hands, by brushing her fingers over the ground. She was gone when we arrived though.” He looked at her worryingly. “Was this the work of an Akuma? I thought you and Chat Noir defeated Hawkmoth years ago.”

“We did. This isn’t an Akuma, exactly. But, she’s another villain who got her hands on amazing power and corrupted it,” Ladybug explained. Officer Roger nodded. 

“Well, the fires are all put out here but we’ll be on the lookout for anymore. Take all the time you need to look around and let us know if you need anything. As of right now, that’s all of the information we have,” he said. She turned to him and gave him a reassuring smile. 

“Don’t worry, Officer. Chat Noir and I will take care of it,” she said. He returned her smile. 

“Of course, Ladybug. We have full confidence in you.” With that, he returned to his car to finish his paperwork for the incident. Ladybug walked over to inspect the burnt ground but found nothing. After looking for several more minutes to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, she swung up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. 

The familiar sound of boots grabbed her attention and she turned, a huge smile on her face. 

“Chat Noir,” she breathed, launching herself at her partner and wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace. He started for a second before wrapping his arms around her and resting his cheek on her head. He had gotten so _tall_. And muscular, from what Ladybug could feel. She pulled back to look at him.

He stood almost two full heads taller than her and his hair was longer, pulled back in a low ponytail. His suit had remained relatively unchanged, although the bell was gone and the seams were green where they used to be black. His suit also had a hood, she noticed, but it sat flush against the back of his suit since he didn’t have it pulled up. His belt was studded and wrapped around his waist twice before trailing down into his tail. 

“Good to see you, M’lady,” he said. His voice had gotten a lot deeper too, to match his more mature appearance. 

“I missed you, Kitty,” Ladybug said, giving him another quick hug. 

“I missed you too. I’m sorry I left so suddenly before,” he said, sheepish. Ladybug waved the comment away. 

“That was the past. Things happen, I understand. What’s important is that you’re here now. We have a new enemy,” she said. He turned to look over the city, casually throwing his arm around her shoulders. 

“So, I’ve heard. What do we know about them so far?” He asked. 

“Not much,” Ladybug admitted, turning under his arm to look out with him. “She has the Dragon Miraculous, which evidently gives her the power to start fires. That’s basically all the police could tell me.” Chat made a thoughtful noise at the back of his throat. 

“She must have stolen the Miraculous from the guardian,” he said after a moment. “But, how?”

“That’s the million dollar question,” Ladybug replied, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes in thought. “I asked my kwami, but she wasn’t sure how it happened either.” 

“It looks like she’s disappeared for the night,” he said, removing his arm from her shoulders and crossing his own over his chest. Ladybug missed the warmth, but she wasn’t going to admit that. 

“It seems like she wanted to make her presence known. She didn’t do any real damage other than a few charred marks around the Seine. But, the police said that nobody has seen her since.”

“I made a loop around the area on my way here to see if I noticed anything suspicious,” Chat said, dropping his arms and shrugging. “But, everything was _purr-fectly_ quiet.” Ladybug groaned. Oh, the puns. It seemed that some things never changed. 

“I hate to say it, but I think we’re going to have to wait for her to come out again before we can do anything” she said, glancing over at him. 

“Maybe she’ll reveal some clues as to what she’s after,” he said. He pulled his staff out from behind him. “But, since we’re out here, would you like to go for a run with me, Bugaboo?” Ladybug rolled her eyes but smiled despite herself. She had really missed the damn cat. 

“Race you to the Louvre,” she said, unhooking her yo-yo and tossing it, jumping off the tower with a laugh. 

The two heros tore across the city in a game of chase, laughing and waving at the excited citizens as they flew from building to building. They landed at the Louvre, laughing and slightly out of breath. 

“Damn,” Chat said, “I really missed this.” Ladybug nodded, leaning against him. It felt like all of the time between them had never happened. They fell into place beside each other, where they belonged, like they had never been apart. 

“Me too, Kitty.” They smiled at each other. 

The two of them caught their breath before taking off again, heading nowhere in particular but always following each other. They dove off of buildings, catching themselves at the last possible second. They ran across the rooftops of the city they loved so much. 

Chat Noir tackled her mid-air, throwing them both onto a rooftop where they rolled to a stop. They laid on their backs, laughing and relishing the feeling of being in each other’s presence again.

Too soon, exhaustion started to get the better of them and they had to call it a night. They parted with a fist bump and a smile, going their separate ways. Ladybug swung back to her building and sneakily crawled back through her window. 

She detransformed and held out her hands to catch Tikki, carrying her over to her cookies. Marinette fell into bed with a smile plastered on her face.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were back.


	20. Chapter 20

Marinette was startled awake the next morning by a frantic pounding on her bedroom door. She leapt out of bed, glancing to make sure Tikki was hidden, before rushing to her door and throwing it open. An excited looking Alya was on the other side beaming at her, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

“Alya?” Marinette blurted, trying to calm her racing heart. As an answer, Alya thrust her hand into Marinette’s face, making the girl go cross-eyed. 

“Look!” She practically squealed. Marinette grabbed her hand, pulling it away from her face to get a good look. On her ring finger sat a beautiful diamond ring framed with two smaller orange sapphires. Marinette’s face broke into a smile and she gaped at her best friend. 

“Is this what I think it is?” She asked, excitement overpowering the sleepiness in her tone. 

“Yes! Nino asked me to marry him!” Alya launched herself at Marinette and hugged her, picking the smaller girl up and jumping up and down. Marinette laughed and hugged her back as best she could. 

“That’s great! Finally!” Alya set her back on her feet and ran down the hall to bang on Adrien’s door. When he saw the ring, he scooped her up into a hug and she was the one lifted off of her feet. The three made their way to the living room, where Nino sat on the couch wearing a proud smile. 

“Congratulations, Nino,” Marinette said, going over to hug him. Adrien clammed him on the shoulder and smiled at him. 

“I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to ask,” he said and Nino laughed. 

“You knew?!” Marinette and Alya shouted in unison, turning to the tall blonde. Adrien nodded, pushing up his glasses and chuckled at their shocked expressions. 

“He showed me the ring a month ago. It’s about damn time, man. That secret was eating me alive,” he flopped dramatically onto the couch beside his friend. 

“I was trying to wait for the perfect moment,” he said and Alya laughed. 

“The perfect moment?” She asked, still laughing. “He rolled over in bed this morning, dropped the ring box on my face, and said ‘hey girl, you should marry me.’” Nino flushed as the other three friends laughed. 

“I got tired of waiting,” he said, joining in on the laughter. Marinette shuffled to the kitchen to put on coffee, still listening to the conversation. “I felt like the perfect moment was never going to come up. And then, I panicked because I didn’t know how to ask so that’s what came out.” 

“It was perfect, anyway,” Alya said, looking at him with love in her eyes. Marinette leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen and smiled at her friend’s happy, lovestruck expression. Alya brightened and looked over at her. 

“Marinette, will you design my wedding dress?” She asked and Marinette practically jumped with joy. 

_“Of course!”_

The four friends talked for a while longer about the proposal over coffee. Adrien got up to make breakfast for everyone and the group moved to the kitchen. The conversation turned to the events of the night before. The truth of what exactly started the fire hadn’t reached the news, but word had gotten around about Ladybug and Chat Noir’s return. 

“I think it’s another person like Hawkmoth,” Alya said, cutting into her pancakes. “Why else would our superheros be back after being gone for so long?” Nino, Marinette, and Adrien mumbled their agreement around mouthfuls of food. 

“I guess we just have to wait and see,” Adrien said, shrugging nonchalantly. “It’s cool to have them back though.”

“Alya saw Ladybug swing by our window last night and I had to physically restrain her from running out into the street,” Nino said, shaking his head at her and taking a sip of his coffee. 

“Are you going to start the Ladyblog back up since they’re back?” Marinette asked. 

“Oh, hell yeah,” Alya said. “People have already been posting to it about seeing them last night. I’m excited.” 

After finishing their food, Nino and Alya left to tell her family the news of their engagement. Marinette and Adrien lounged on the couch, chatting idly about all of the people they knew that had recently gotten engaged. 

Adrien’s phone rang. Picking it up off of the table, he checked the caller ID and groaned. Marinette gave him a curious stare and he tossed it back on the table. 

“I blocked the other number Sara was calling me from, but she must have gotten a new one because this same number has started blowing my phone up now.” He ran a hand through his hair and Marinette frowned. 

“Have you thought about getting your number changed?” She asked. Adrien sighed. 

“Yeah. But all of my business contacts have this number and it would take _weeks_ to make sure everyone had a new number. And then she would probably get her hands on that one, too, knowing her.” He rolled his eyes. “I used to find her single-minded determination endearing. Now, it’s just annoying.”

Marinette giggled at that and bumped her shoulder with his. 

“Man, you must be pretty great in bed or something for her to be _this_ hung up over--” she cut herself off, eyes widening at the comment that had slipped out of her mouth. Her face was on fire. 

The tips of Adrien’s ears turned pink and he laughed, a sound that made the butterflies in Marinette’s stomach take flight. His laugh had to be one of her favorite things in the world. 

“That must be it,” he said, laughing off the comment even though his face was still pink. Marinette was staring pointedly at the ground, wishing that it would open up and swallow her. The phone rang once again and Adrien reached over and rejected the call, blocking the new number. 

“Why didn’t you block it earlier?” She asked, finally finding her voice again. He shrugged. 

“Honestly, I kind of forget that’s an option sometimes,” he explained, setting the phone back down. He stood up and stretched, raising his arms above his head. His shirt rode up slightly, exposing a small glimpse of skin that, try as she might, Marinette could _not_ pull her eyes away from. 

She had caught herself staring at him a lot lately, though he never seemed to notice. _Thankfully._

“So,” he started, dropping his arms and looking down at her. She quickly pulled her gaze up to his face, pretending like she hadn’t been shamelessly checking him out. “What are your plans for today?”

“I need to go grocery shopping,” she said, also rising to her feet. “If you would like to join me.” He nodded and they both went to get ready. 

 

Later that night, after she was sure Adrien had gone to bed, Ladybug stealthily made her way out of her bedroom window. There was a slight rustle in the bushes several feet away from her, but she saw nothing when she investigated. Determining that it must have been a small animal, she threw out her yo-yo and swung her way to the Eiffel Tower. 

“Good evening, M’lady,” Chat said as she landed. She smiled at him. 

“Hey there, Kitty. Out for a little patrol?” She hooked her yo-yo back around her waist and leaned against the railing. Chat sauntered over to stand beside her, standing to look out over the city with a fond smile. 

“Of course. I haven’t been in this suit in seven years. I’m finally _feline_ like I’m where I need to be again.” He looked at her. “With my best friend, of course.” Ladybug smiled at that. 

“I get it, me too,” she said. “When I transformed again for the first time, I felt whole again. Like, Ladybug was a piece of me that had been missing.” She shot a smirk in his direction. “And, I guess the company isn’t so bad, either.” 

Chat chuckled, pulling out his baton and extending his hand out in front of him, motioning her to go ahead. She unhooked her yo-yo and jumped, an exhilarated laugh tumbling out of her as the ground rushed up below. She let herself fall for a few seconds before catching herself and swinging away, knowing that her partner would be right behind her. 

 

They were at the end of their patrol when they saw movement on a rooftop a few buildings away from them. Exchanging a quick look, the two took off after the figure. She ran from them, hopping effortlessly from building to building, fabric from her suit flowing behind her. 

When they finally caught up to her, it was because she let them. She leaned casually against a chimney as the two heros landed, smirking at them with her arms crossed. In the light of a streetlight beside them, Ladybug took note of her suit. 

She wore a dark red fitted suit, much like her own only a much different shade of red. It was almost burgundy in color. Over the suit was a black chinese style robe which connected to the rest of her suit at the waist before flowing out behind her, stopping at her knees. The mask covering her face was the same red as her suit, with a black damask design around the edges. 

“So, you finally caught up,” she said, her tone smug. Ladybug and Chat assumed defensive stances, and the woman held up her hand. “I am only here to introduce myself.” 

The partners exchanged an uncertain look, never relaxing their stances. She turned and walked away from them, dragging her hand along the brick of the chimney she had been leaning against. On her back was a dark red dragon. Her hair was pulled into a bun, held in place by two red ornamental chopsticks. She turned to face the superheros, making her way slowly back toward them. 

“I am Dragoness,” she said, coming to a stop in front of them, far enough away so that they couldn’t grab her. 

“What do you want?” Ladybug snapped, her yo-yo spinning dangerously. Dragoness tilted her head and smiled at her. 

“Well, you’ll find that out, won’t you?” With that, she turned. Ladybug ran at her with Chat on her heels. 

Grabbing the girl by the arm, Ladybug pulled her back. Dragoness laughed, falling gracefully and rolling backwards before coming to kneel on the other side of them. 

“I wouldn’t,” she said lowly, her hand poised over the roof of the building they were standing on. It was an apartment building, with many families inside. Ladybug and Chat froze, unwilling to let her set the building ablaze and unsure of what she was capable of. 

In one fluid motion, she rose back to her feet and turned her body to the side, looking over at them. 

“We’ll meet again soon,” she said. Unwilling to let her get away, Ladybug threw out her yo-yo to grab her, only to watch her disappear into a puff of black smoke. 

They stood there, dumbfounded. 

“You realize we just let her get away, right?” Ladybug muttered to Chat beside here. 

“Yep.”

“And we didn’t even really put up a fight,” she continued. 

“Nope.” 

Ladybug looked over at Chat, who had a peculiar look on his face. She sighed, resting her forehead against his arm. 

“We need to figure out what she’s capable of before we can safely engage her in a fight,” she muttered, trying to make herself feel better about letting the enemy get away. Chat brought his hand up to pet her hair reassuringly. 

“That’s exactly right. We can’t risk letting her burn down people’s homes. At least we know who she is and what she looks like now.” Ladybug nodded, still annoyed at the situation. 

“You’re right,” she said in a resolute tone. She picked her head up and looked at where the girl had been standing before she disappeared. “We need to do some research. I can talk to the guardian and see what he knows about the powers of the Dragon Miraculous.”

The two agreed to meet up again at their usual spot in three days to discuss what Master Fu could tell her. After saying goodnight, Ladybug swung into her bedroom and detransformed, placing a tired Tikki on the little bed she had made for her and giving her a cookie. 

“You were right to not fight her tonight,” the kwami said before taking a bite and chewing thoughtfully. Marinette looked at her, waiting patiently for her to continue. “Fire is a dangerous power to have, capable of devastating things if it’s in the wrong hands. Once you talk to the guardian, you’ll have a better idea of how to safely go up against her.” 

Marinette gave her a soft smile and placed a gently kiss on Tikki’s forehead. 

“Thank you, TIkki. That makes me feel better.” Leaving the kwami to her snack, Marinette walked into her bathroom to get ready for bed. She decided that she would call Master Fu in the morning to set a time to meet with him. They couldn’t risk going into battle unprepared against someone with such a dangerous power. 

She just wished that she knew _what_ Dragoness was looking to gain.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette finally snaps.

Marinette sat across from Master Fu as he poured them both a cup of tea. Tikki was sitting on the table beside Wayzz, nibbling on a shortbread cookie. 

“I am very glad to see you, Marinette. I assume you are here to discuss the Dragon Miraculous,” he said, picking up his cup and looking at her over the rim. Marinette nodded, blowing lightly in her own tea. 

“Yes, Master Fu. I came to ask what powers the miraculous grants it's holder,” she said. The old guardian sighed and set his cup down. 

“The Dragon Miraculous has not been used for a long time. The last person that was chosen to wield it also used its powers for evil. Have you heard of the Great Fire of Rome?” Marinette raised her eyebrows and shook her head. 

“I haven't. Was it the work of the Dragon Miraculous?” Master Fu nodded solemnly. 

“Yes. That was the last time the miraculous was released. The fire took several days to contain and in that time period, it was devastating. There are many accounts of how and why the fires were started, but no one knows for sure. However, it is most commonly believed that it was directed at the Christians in the community at that time.” 

Marinette leaned forward, making sure not to miss a single detail. 

“The Dragon kwami, Longg, grants his Chosen the power to create and manipulate fire, as you've already seen to some extent. The special power, called Smoke Screen, allows the holder of the miraculous to create a curtain of thick black smoke in order to disappear.” 

“Dragoness did that the other night. It was like she just vanished into thin air,” Marinette said. 

“Yes, it usually appears that way.” He sipped at his tea. 

“How do we go about defeating her? We can't risk letting her burn down half of Paris.” A slight panic worked its way into Marinette's tone and she took a deep breath to calm herself. 

“Every Miraculous has its limits, and while the Dragon Miraculous is powerful, it is still not as powerful as that of the cat and the ladybug. Fires must have something to burn. I suggest engaging her near water, and keep the fire department informed.” 

Marinette nodded, she had figured as much. 

“Also, if possible, try leading her to an open space as to limit any possible casualties. Do you know what it is she wishes to obtain with her newfound power?” Marinette shook her head. 

“I have no idea. She basically just baited us for a while to introduce herself before disappearing.” Master Fu stroked his small beard thoughtfully. 

“You may benefit from finding out what she is after. I have faith that the two of you can handle this.” Marinette gave him a small smile. 

“Thank you, Master Fu,” she said sweetly. “I do have one more question while I'm here. I asked Tikki, and she told me to check with you.”

“What is it?” He asked, giving her his full attention. 

“Do you think it's safe for Chat Noir and I to reveal ourselves to each other?” 

After a brief second, during which Marinette almost regretted asking, a wide smile spread across the old man's face. 

“Of course. You two are a wonderful team, meant to work with one another both in and out of the suits. I believe that revealing yourself would only make your partnership stronger, so long as you are both ready.” Marinette stood up and quickly bowed to him. 

“Thank you so much for your help.” She righted herself and smiled. “I'll talk to Chat Noir about sharing our identities.” 

After exchanging goodbyes, Tikki flew into Marinette's bag and the two were off. She was nervous about revealing herself, but she was ready. She wanted to know who was on the other side of the mask of her Kitty. She just hoped that he would still feel the same way. 

 

When Marinette got back to her apartment, Adrien and Sara were arguing quietly in the hallway. 

“Why won't you just talk to me, honey?” She heard Sara ask, her voice grating on Marinettes nerves. She saw Adrien cross his arms. Everything about him screamed that he was uncomfortable. 

“Because I have nothing to say to you,” he snapped in a low tone. Marinette finally reached them and tapped Sara on the shoulder. The redhead whirled around and fixed Marinette with a glare. 

She crossed her arms and met Sara's glare with one of her own, briefly noting Adrien's surprised expression. 

“You need to leave,” She said simply. Sara raised an eyebrow, her mouth twisting into a sneer.

“Adrien doesn't really want me to leave,” She said, crossing her own arms to mimic Marinette's stance. 

“Yes, he very clearly does. He wants nothing to do with you. He has _told_ you that. Are you dense or just stupid?” Marinette was trying to keep her cool, for Adrien's sake, but iciness had worked its way into her tone. 

“If he wanted me to leave, he would tell me.” Marinette fought back the urge to smack the smug look off of the girl's face.

“He _has_. Several times. In no uncertain terms. So you need to get your shit and go back to wherever the hell you came from.” Sara reeled back slightly, stepping backwards closer to Adrien, who stepped away. 

“You do _not_ get to talk to me like that.” She turned to Adrien and put her hand on his chest. “Tell her, babe.” He pushed his hand away as Marinette grabbed her shoulder and forcefully spun her back around to face her. 

“I can talk to you however I damn well please,” she snarled, leaning in closer to Sara's face. “You are harassing my friend after _you_ pushed him to end things. You're showing up to _my_ home. You are _visibly_ making Adrien uncomfortable, but you're too deluded to realize that he _doesn't want you._ ” 

Marinette's head whipped to the side with a resounding smack. She heard Adrien's sharp inhale and saw him move to grab Sara. 

Usually, Marinette prided herself on being level-headed. She always tried to think things through before she acted. But in that moment, Marinette was _pissed_. In that moment, she snapped. 

She lunged at Sara before Adrien had managed to grab her, landing a solid punch to her cheek. Adrien tried to step in between the two girls but Marinette side-stepped him, grabbing Sara by the hair as she tried to run away and pulled her back. 

Blindly throwing punches in a hate filled rage, Marinette was lifted by strong arms around her waist and carried inside her apartment. 

“I better not fucking see you here again,” Marinette yelled as Adrien slammed the door in Sara's shocked, angry face. He held onto her, waiting until she called down before he put her back on her own feet. 

Marinette was still shaking with anger, but she turned to Adrien and looked up at him. 

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly. 

A pause. And then a chuckle reached her ears. 

“I'm fine, Marinette. I should be the one asking you that,” he said, bringing a hand to the back of his neck. Realizing what she had just done, Marinette flushed and started fluttering her hands. 

“I'm so sorry, Adrien! I didn't mean to lose my cool like that, I shouldn't have jumped on your ex-wife like that. I just saw you two arguing and I was already mad because she won't leave you alone and then she still wouldn't leave when I asked her to and then she touched you when you didn't want her to and then she _slapped_ me and I just--.” 

Marinette's frantic rambling was cut off as Adrien wrapped her in a hug. 

“It's okay, ‘Nette. I don't want to see her hurt, of course. But thank you for standing up for me like that.” Marinette relaxed then, returning the hug and leaning her head against his chest. She could hear his strong, steady heartbeat and allowed it to soothe her. 

“I'll always defend you, Adrien,” she mumbled. “You're one of my best friends and I love you.”


	22. Chapter 22

Later that night, Ladybug sat on the Eiffel Tower with her legs dangling off the edge, looking out at the lights of the city. After a couple of minutes, she heard the sound of light footsteps behind her and smirked to herself. That cat was trying to sneak up on her. 

“Look what the cat dragged in,” she drawled, turning around with a grin when she felt him sneak up behind her. He froze in his position, hands out as if he was about to try to scare her. 

“Damn,” he whispered, dropping his hands and looking at her with wide, innocent green eyes. Ladybug tapped his nose and stood up. “So what did the guardian say?” 

Ladybug leaned down to pick up a small box of pastries from her parent's bakery and Chat’s eyes lit up as he snatched a chocolate croissant from the box. 

“I love this place,” he exclaimed, taking a huge bite and smiling, closing his eyes as he chewed. Ladybug smiled, grabbing one for herself before recounting the conversation she had with Master Fu earlier in the day. 

Chat listened closely as she talked, giving her his undivided attention. 

“So, we need to scout out a few places it would be safest to engage her,” he said once she finished talking. Ladybug nodded. 

“I have a few places in mind, a couple of parks, but we'll have to spend a few nights looking around.” She offered the box to Chat again and he grabbed another pastry eagerly. 

They discussed strategies for a while and set up times to meet up and look for safe places for the final fight. They were unsure of how to lead her there, especially since they had only encountered her once and had no idea what her motives were. 

After they finished off the box of sweets, Ladybug took a deep breath. She wanted to bring up the topic of revealing themselves but she was nervous. 

“Chat,” she said hesitantly. “There was one other thing Master Fu and I talked about.”

Noticing her odd tone, he turned and looked at her, concerned. 

“What was it?” He asked carefully. It had to be something big if it was making his strong, confident Lady sound so nervous. 

“Well--,” she started, but was cut off by the smell of smoke. “Wait, do you smell that?” Chat sniffed the air, his eyes narrowing and his tail lashing behind him. 

“Smoke,” he said. The two heroes looked around them, trying to locate the source of the smell. “Uh, M'Lady.” 

Ladybug looked over at Chat, who was looking below them with a concerned look on his face. She joined him at the edge and followed his gaze. 

Flames were licking their way up the legs of the tower, Dragoness standing close by. The breeze caught the loose fabric of her suit, causing it to flutter behind her dramatically. 

Exchanging a quick, wordless glance, they leapt away from the burning tower. Swinging wide to avoid the flames, Ladybug dropped to the ground below with Chat Noir not far behind. She heard him using his communicator to alert the fire department. 

Dragoness turned and fled and the two quickly took off after her. She leapt onto the nearest rooftop and they followed at her heels. Ladybug threw out her yo-yo, intending to wrap it around the girl. She dodged and threw her hand out behind her. 

For a split second, nothing happened. Then, Ladybug was tackled to the ground by Chat Noir and he covered her body with his own as a wave of fire flew over them before dissipating into smoke. 

“She can throw fire,” Ladybug muttered. 

“She can throw fire,” Chat echoed, jumping off of her and hauling her to her feet. They took off again, dodging her flames and hopping from building to building. 

Veering off sharply, Chat Noir disappeared for a second before his staff shot out of the shadows, tripping Dragoness. Reacting quickly, Ladybug threw her yo-yo, wrapping it tight around the girl. 

They closed in on her, Ladybug holding tight to her weapon and Chat Noir holding his staff at the ready. 

“Oh, you caught me,” Dragoness said, her tone bored. She rolled her eyes. “Good job.” Ladybug glared and tightened her grip. 

“Why did you steal the Miraculous? What do you want?” She demanded. Her captive smiled. 

“Well, that's easy,” she said, her voice smooth. She turned her gaze to Chat Noir. “I want you, dear.” He stiffened. 

“Huh?” He spluttered eloquently, a bewildered look plastered across his face. Ladybug grabbed her arm and spun her back around to face her. 

“Hate to break it to you, but that's never going to happen,” she snapped, speaking for her dumbstruck partner. 

“That's what you think,” Dragoness hissed. Ladybug reached forward to snatch her Miraculous, but before she could get her fingers around it, Dragoness jumped up and planted both feet against Ladybugs abdomen, pushing her away and onto her back. 

Chat rushed forward to grab Dragoness as Ladybug’s grip on her yo-yo loosened, but she threw a wave of fire at him, causing him to throw his arm up and step back to avoid being burned. 

_“Dammit!”_ Ladybug spat. Chat lowered his arm to see…smoke. Ladybug’s weapon was coiled up on the ground. She had gotten away again. 

Chat rushed to Ladybug and helped her to her feet. 

“She's good at escaping, I'll give her that,” she seethed. 

“Sorry, LB. I almost had her but--” Ladybug cut him off with a look. 

“No. It wasn't your fault, Kitty. Don't apologize,” she said and her face softened. He brought a hand up to the back of his neck, the gesture very familiar. 

They made their way back to the Eiffel Tower. The fire had been put out and, oddly, there was no evidence that it had been there at all. 

“I guess it was just to get our attention,” Chat muttered. 

“She said she wants _you_ ,” Ladybug said, confused. Chat smirked and leaned against the railing, posing. 

“Well, I am _purr-etty_ irresistible, Bugaboo,” he said. Ladybug rolled her eyes and shook her head, laughing and feeling some of the tension leave her shoulders. Her silly kitty could always make her feel better. 

After a moment, he gave her a dramatic bow, telling her goodnight and turned to jump away. 

Ladybug stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. 

“Wait, Chat. There was something else I wanted to tell you before,” she said, feeling slightly nervous again. Ladybug took a deep breath as he turned around, an eyebrow raised at her. She was ready. 

“Yes, M'Lady?” She took another breath, calming her nerves before she answered. 

“Master Fu said, if you're ready, that we should reveal our identities to each other.” The words tumbled out of her mouth in a rush, but he understood what she said. 

For some reason, Chat stiffened. 

“Only if you want to,” Ladybug reassured. She was confused; he had been the one wanting to reveal their identities all along when they were kids. But, that _was_ seven years ago. If he wasn't ready, she wouldn't push it. 

“I do,” he said hesitantly. 

“Are you sure?” Ladybug asked, reaching forward to place her hand on his arm. “You don't seem comfortable with it.” 

He brought a hand up to the back of his neck and avoided her gaze. 

“I want you to know who I am. And, more than anything, I want to know who you are.” He paused. “But, after we defeated Hawkmoth, there's a reason I disappeared. And you'll know why when you see who I am under this mask. I just...don't want you to think less of me because of it.”

Ladybug rubbed his arm gently before reaching down to grab both of his hands in her own. 

“I could never think less of you, Kitty. You're my partner and one of my best friends.” His worried gaze met her own reassuring one. “We will only do this if you're ready.”

He took a deep breath and nodded, closing his eyes. Ladybug closed her eyes as well. 

“Okay,” he said. “Claws in.”

“Spots off.” 

Their hands tightened on each other as their suits melted away and she rubbed her thumb across the knuckles of his right hand. 

“Open our eyes on three,” she said. “One.”

“Two.”

“Three.” 

They opened their eyes, and Marinette stared into the familiar green eyes of her best friend and long-time love.


	23. Chapter 23

They stared at each other in stunned silence, unblinking. Unmoving.

After several minutes had passed, identical grins spread over their faces. 

“Oh, my gosh,” Marinette whispered, bringing her hands up to her mouth. Adrien started laughing. 

“We are _so_ fucking stupid,” he howled, doubled over. Marinette couldn’t help but join in. 

Now that she knew what she knew, it was so glaringly _obvious_ that she couldn’t believe she didn’t figure it out sooner. They leaned against each other, laughing until tears poured out of their eyes and they were gasping for breath. 

Gradually, their laughter turned to giggles and they straightened up, both red in the face. 

“I’m really glad it’s you,” Adrien said, pulling Marinette to him in a tight hug. “I can’t believe that I didn’t notice sooner.”

“I’m glad it’s you, too,” she assured him, recalling his earlier worries about revealing his own identity. She returned the hug, squeezing him hard. “I’m definitely glad there’s not _two_ people in my life with the same awful sense of humor,” she teased. 

Adrien pulled back, playfully glaring at her. 

“I’ll have you know, my jokes are top notch, Bug,” he said, placing a hand over his heart in a dramatic display of being hurt by her words. She laughed and lightly shoved his shoulder.

They sat on the tower in silence for a while, leaning against each other and lost in their own thoughts. Marinette smiled to herself and leaned her head against his shoulder. She was so happy that Adrien was Chat. 

She knew that Master Fu had been right. Revealing themselves was only going to make them a better team. There was none of the awkwardness that she had expected there to be following the reveal. Things felt completely natural, like they really were meant to be two halves of a whole. 

 

In their everyday lives, knowing each other’s secret identities had only proven to bring Marinette and Adrien closer. However, knowing how much of a self-sacrificing goofball Adrien had always been also made her fall for him even harder. But, that was a minor detail that she was determined to ignore for the time being. 

Which, was easier said than done when the object of her affections walked around her apartment looking so good that, quite frankly, it should be illegal. 

Marinette was working on an engagement gift for Alya at her sewing table when Adrien ran down the hall to the laundry room, cussing under his breath. She paused her sewing and turned around. 

“You okay?” She called into the laundry room on the other side of the kitchen. She heard Adrien rummaging around in the dryer, slamming it back shut before he walked out, running a hand through his hair. 

When he came through the door into her line of sight, her mouth went dry and her face flushed. He was shirtless, wearing only low slung black jeans and his boots. She noticed that he had a keyboard tattooed down his right side, which did nothing to help Marinette’s already struggling thought process. 

“I have a last minute photoshoot in an hour and Plagg got Camembert on all of my clean shirts,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. Marinette unglued her tongue from the roof of her mouth to respond. 

“Do you have any more in your apartment?” She asked, her voice surprisingly calm despite the borderline _obscene_ direction her thoughts had taken. He perked up, taking long strides to the front door. 

“Great thinking, Bug. Thank you.” As he turned his back to walk out, Marinette caught sight of another tattoo; a large black phoenix on his right shoulder blade. Her brain short-circuited and she spun back around and dropped her head back against the chair to stare at the ceiling with wide eyes. 

Tikki giggled at her from her place on the couch. 

“Oh, hush,” Marinette said. Tikki giggled some more, but didn’t say anything. Plagg, however, was not so considerate. He floated over to Marinette with a smug look on his face, plopping down on top of her sewing machine. Marinette picked her head up to shoot him a narrow-eyed look. 

“You know,” he started, pawing at the thread on the machine. “I like you, Ladybug.”

Marinette’s eyes shot up to her hairline. That was not at all what she had expected to hear from the sarcastic little kwami. 

“You’re not so bad, yourself,” she said, skeptical. 

“Oh, I know,” he responded absently and Marinette rolled her eyes. 

“So, is there a point to this odd conversation?” She asked, scratching Plagg lightly behind the ears. He gave her a serious look, the expression seeming out of place on his usually smug face. 

“From what the kid has told me, he’s been through a lot with women that don’t appreciate him,” Plagg said, floating up to be eye-level with Marinette. She scrunched her eyebrows. 

“I’m not looking to start a relationship with him, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she defended. Plagg held up a tiny paw. 

“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying, once this crazy stalker nonsense is over, you _should_.”

“What?” Marinette coughed, shocked. But Plagg didn’t say anything more on the subject, zipping over to raid the refrigerator and leaving her to her thoughts. 

She dropped her forehead onto her desk and groaned, rubbing her temples. Picking her head up, she set back to work on Alya’s gift, trying to distract herself from the mental image of Adrien parading shirtless around her apartment. 

 

By the time he came back home a few hours later, Marinette had forced the images from her mind. She was putting the finishing touches on their dinner when he walked through the door, looking annoyed. He fell face first onto the couch with a groan. 

“Rough day?” She called from the kitchen. She got another annoyed groan in response before he picked himself up and stomped into the kitchen. 

“I really hate modelling,” he said, rolling his eyes and grabbing a bottle of whisky from the cabinet, pouring himself a glass. Glancing to Marinette, she nodded and he poured her one, too, sliding it over to her. 

“If you hate it so much, why do you keep doing it?” She asked. He took a long swallow of his drink and Marinette marveled at the way that he didn’t even wince at the burn as it went down. 

“I don’t know what to do with my degree,” he said simply. She turned to look at him curiously.

“What did you go to school for?” She asked, feeling kind of bad that she had never asked before. Adrien didn’t seem bothered. 

“Music. I love it, but I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t want be a music producer like Nino.” He finished the rest of his drink, pouring himself another and sipping at it slower than he had the first.

Marinette thought hard as she finished cooking. Adrien came up beside her and pulled down two plates for her to put the food on. 

“Have you thought about teaching?” She asked as they sat down at the table. Adrien shrugged and made a face. 

“Not really. Not that it doesn’t sound like a job I would like, but I don’t think I would be very good at it,” he explained. 

“Are you kidding? I think you’d be great at it,” she insisted. He gave her a disbelieving look and she continued. “You’re very patient and good at explaining things. You’re obviously passionate about music. If it’s something you think you would like, I think you should go for it. You’d do great.” 

He smiled at her for the first time since he had gotten back from his photoshoot, the tension slowly leaving his shoulders. 

“Thanks, Bug,” he said. The rest of their dinner was spent making idle conversation about anything and everything before they decided to watch a movie. 

They cuddled up under a blanket as Adrien chose what to watch, a romantic comedy Marinette had never heard of. She tried to pay attention to the movie, but her focus was always drawn back to the way her head fit perfectly on his shoulder or the way his arm felt around her. 

Before the middle of the movie had passed, she had drifted off to sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

When there had been no sign of Sara for several days, Adrien had decided that he was okay to go back to his own apartment. Marinette reluctantly agreed, but told him that she would leave the spare bedroom set up for him. She had helped him move all of his stuff back to his place and had since been living alone again. She adamantly refused to admit that she missed him terribly. 

Of course, he was still at her apartment almost every day, so she couldn’t miss him too much. 

Marinette wondered if Sara had finally given up her little game and gone back home. She was absorbed in her thoughts as she made her way to Alya and Nino’s apartment. Adrien had been there working on music stuff with Nino all day, so Alya had called her over that evening to have a fun night together. 

Jogging up the steps to their door, she faintly heard music and laughter coming through the closed door. She pulled out her key, letting herself in. Then paused, to take in the scene in front of her. Nino was dancing in the middle of the living room, holding a half empty bottle of Jack Daniel’s in his hand and laughing. 

Alya was also laughing, though she seemed to be sober. She was laying on the floor holding up her phone, recording the boys. But what caught Marinette’s attention the most was Adrien. 

He was walking along their furniture, dancing at every pause and belting out the lyrics to the song playing over the stereo. He looked carefree and was completely at ease putting on a whole performance in front of his friends. She had never heard him sing before and what stunned Marinette the most was the fact that he actually sounded really good. 

Alya waved her over and Marinette sat on the floor with her friend. 

“He’s been at it for an hour,” she giggled. “Fun drunk Adrien has finally come out to play! I’m sending this video to you and Bridgette in the morning. It’s great.”

Noticing Marinette’s arrival, Adrien hopped off the couch and grabbed her arm, pulling her up and spinning her around. She laughed, joining him in his dancing, but leaving the singing to him. He pulled her up onto the coffee table and Alya laughed as she moved to get a better angle. She recorded them for a few minutes more before Nino grabbed her to dance with him. 

The four friends spent the night laughing and dancing, having a much needed good time to unwind from the stress of the past few months. 

 

The next morning, reality came crashing back down. 

More accurately, a half naked Adrien came crashing through Marinette’s door. She jumped up off of the couch in alarm, pulling up her fists and instinctively stepping into a fighting stance before she saw it was him. 

“Adrien,” she exclaimed, lowering her fists to stare at him with wide eyes. He shut and locked the door behind him before leaning his back against it. 

Taking a second to look at him, she realized he was wearing only sweatpants. He was barefooted and his hair was all over the place, glasses crooked on his face. With a start, she noticed he was no longer wearing the necklace and tried to remember how long it had been since she had seen it last. 

“I woke up this morning and Sara was laying in my bed next to me,” he said, pushing his hand through his already messy hair. “Please tell me I didn't do anything stupid last night.”

“No, no, you didn't. I brought you home and you went right to sleep. She must have broken in again. Did she say anything to you?” Marinette crossed over to him to grab his arm and drag him to the couch. 

“No, she was asleep. I woke up and saw her and hauled ass over here,” he said, falling back onto the couch beside her. 

“Should we call the police again?” She asked, looking around for her phone. Adrien sighed. 

“We've called them every time but they haven't really been able to help much. She's too good at this,” he said. It was true, the police hadn't been able to find her. Marinette stood up. 

“I’m going over there,” she announced, walking to the door to put on her shoes. Adrien jumped up. 

“What? Bug, no,” he said frantically. Marinette turned to him with her hands on her hips. 

“This is ridiculous, Kitty. She's breaking into your house, violating your privacy and your personal space. She's stalking you and she needs to know that we won't take this lying down.” Adrien reached out to put a hand on her arm. 

“You're right but I don't want you getting any assault charges. You're the one that stopped Alya and Bri from going after her,” he reasoned. Marinette sighed. 

“I won't put a hand on her. I know you don't want to see her hurt and I understand that. I'll just talk to her, I promise.” 

Adrien hesitantly let go of her arm and gave her a nod. She gave him a reassuring look before walking out the door and over to Adrien’s apartment. Letting herself in, she made her way back to Adrien’s bedroom. 

Sara was awake, walking around the room and looking through his stuff. Marinette stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and loudly cleared her throat. Sara jumped and whirled around. 

“What are you doing here?” Marinette asked, her voice even. It was difficult to keep herself calm, but she made a promise to Adrien. Sara floundered for a second before regaining her composure, crossing her arms and scowling. 

“I should be asking you that,” she snapped, throwing her hair over her shoulder. Marinette rolled her eyes. 

“I have permission to be here. Unlike you.” Sara bristled and narrowed her eyes. 

“I don't need permission. I belong wherever Adrien is and he knows that.” she turned and walked back over to the bed, sitting down on the edge and leaning back on her hands. She looked like she had no intentions to leave. 

“Why are you stalking him?” Marinette asked calmly even though she wanted nothing more than to drag the girl out of the apartment by her hair. 

“I am _not_ stalking him. He wants me here, he's just too stubborn to admit it. But, he will.” Sara crossed her legs and played with the charm around her neck nonchalantly. 

“He's made it very clear that he doesn't want you here. You're delusional and you need to get help.” 

Marinette quickly realized that had been the wrong thing to say. 

Sara jumped to her feet, nostrils flaring and her teeth bared. She charged at Marinette, grabbing her around the throat and pinning her to the wall, taking the girl completely by surprise. 

“You just want him for yourself,” Sara snarled, her grip on Marinette’s neck getting tighter until she struggled to breathe. “I've seen how you look at him. You just want me gone so you can have him. But, he's _mine_.”

Marinette grabbed at the hands around her throat but they wouldn't loosen. She kicked at her, but Sara was _strong_ ; much stronger than she appeared to be. 

Grey spots started to dance along Marinette's vision and she reached out, grabbing at the other girl's neck and managing to grab her necklace. 

Sara jumped back, smacking Marinette’s hands away. Marinette dropped to her knees, gasping for air and glaring up at her. 

“You'd better stay away from Adrien,” she snapped before taking off. 

By the time Marinette got back to her feet, Sara was already gone. She stumbled back to her apartment. 

Taking note of the red marks on her neck, Adrien jumped to attention and led her to the couch. She waved him away and told him what happened, watching him get more and more angry with every word.

“I grabbed her necklace and she freaked out,” she said, looking at Adrien thoughtfully. “It was a wooden bead with a red dragon engraved on it.”

Adrien’s eyes widened.

“Do you think--?” Marinette nodded. 

“I do. I think Sara is Dragoness. And that's why she's after you.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for some angst?! 
> 
> All aboard the pain train!

Once Adrien had discovered that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person, he allowed himself to see the Ladybug qualities in his friend. They were so obvious, he still couldn't believe he had never put two and two together. She was brave, smart, witty, and just amazing in every way both in and out of the suit. 

The way she was willing to go to war with Sara over him spoke volumes and did things to his heart. He had been in love with Ladybug for so long and it had taken a long time to get over her. Knowing that his father had been Hawkmoth had made him feel unworthy of someone as amazing as her and he had given up all hope of being with her. 

And now, here she was as his best friend and he had brought another psychopath into her life. Seeing the marks on her neck from Sara had driven it home for him. 

He was bad for the people that he cared about. 

Despite the emotional turmoil his ex was putting him through, Marinette had kicked her way through the walls he had constructed around his heart and had made herself perfectly at home there. She made him laugh when he wanted to cry, she made him feel like he could take on anything as long as she was beside him. She did _so much_ for him. 

And all he had done was bring stress and negativity into her life. 

Sitting alone in his apartment, he stared blankly at the half empty bottle in front of him. Adrien had managed to hold it together for the whole day with Marinette and after he had gotten home until Plagg had taken off through the air vents to meet up with Tikki. When he was finally alone, he turned to the coping skills he had developed during his party days. 

He had always turned to drinking, smoking, and meaningless sex to drown the darkness inside of him. It wasn't healthy, but it worked and that was all he wanted. 

He had hoped that moving back home would help him. He had wanted to move on and become a better version of himself and leave his toxic past behind him. But Sara had followed him here and turned his entire world on its head. 

He wanted to hate her, but he couldn't. He had loved her once and, while he didn't love her anymore, they had so many good memories together. She had been his whole world for so long. Having her there, always showing up and begging him to take her back, was making it impossible to move on with his life. 

He wanted to move on. He wanted to move on with Marinette, if she would have him. But he knew that he didn't deserve her. He was poison to the people he loved. 

Grabbing the bottle, he crossed his apartment to walk out onto the patio. It was late and no one else was outside. He took a swig from his drink and lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply and staring bitterly at the stars. 

What was it about him that corrupted people? He briefly considered moving far away so that Marinette, Nino, and Alya would be spared from the shitstorm that was his life. But he couldn't leave them again. Most days, his three friends were the only thing holding him together. 

He saw Ladybug swing overhead and froze, the bottle held against his lips. He tried not to move, not wanting her to notice him. He didn't want her to see him like this. 

As usual, luck was not on his side. She caught sight of him and redirected herself, swinging back around. She landed gracefully on the railing around his patio, crouching on top of the wood. He stared at her, eyes wide and unblinking. 

Seven years ago, Adrien would have shit himself if Ladybug had landed in front of him and stared into his eyes the way she was currently doing. She reached forward and plucked the half-smoked cigarette from between his fingers, putting it out and dropping it in the ashtray on the railing beside her. 

“What's wrong, Kitty?” She asked, moving to sit more comfortably. She sat down and crossed one long leg over the other and Adrien swallowed, trying not to notice in his half-drunken state the way her suit clung to her body. 

He looked away from her and cleared his throat. 

“What are you doing out so late?” He asked, looking back at her. Her eyes narrowed, noticing the subject change. 

“I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd go out for a run,” she said. She leaned forward close to his face and his breath caught in his throat. “Are you going to answer my question?”

Adrien was nowhere near sober enough to be able to keep a clear head with her leaning so close to his face. The moonlight shone over her, giving her an almost ethereal glow. His heart pounded in his chest and he mentally slapped himself. 

This was his best friend. His beautiful, amazing best friend in a skin tight suit that gave him very inappropriate ideas, but his best friend all the same. He had no reason to feel so flustered. He blamed the alcohol swimming through his system. 

“Same as you. I just couldn’t sleep.” It wasn't technically a lie. His thoughts had been keeping him up. 

“What's on your mind?” Ladybug asked gently, pulling back from his face slightly. He brought a hand up to the back of his neck. 

“Nothing really important,” he avoided. She crossed her arms, disbelief written all over her face. 

“Important enough to have you drinking Jack straight out of the bottle,” she retorted. 

_Damn_. She had him there. Still, he couldn't burden her with the dark thoughts swirling through his mind. 

“The whole Sara situation just has me stressed out,” he said instead. Her face softened and she gave him a sympathetic smile. 

“I understand that. But, you have me. You have Nino and Alya too. And you've got Bridgette in your corner from America. You don't have to go through this alone,” she said. He gave her a hollow smile, hoping it was reassuring. 

It wasn't fair to his friends for them to have to deal with this. They were doing just fine when he wasn't around. He had ruined it by coming back and bringing this to them. 

“I can see which direction your thoughts are taking and I'm not having it,”Ladybug said, pulling his attention back to the moment. She gave him a stern look. 

“I don't know what you're talking about, Bug,” he said, looking away again. She put her hands on the sides of his face and made him look at her. 

“We love you, Adrien. And we would go to the ends of the earth for you, just like you would do for us. I can tell that you feel bad for bringing this here, but you shouldn't. You didn't know she would follow you. She's crazy. And we are here for you. We wouldn't let you go through this alone. We don't want to.”

He cast his eyes down, cursing the way she was able to read him like a book. 

“Thanks,” he mumbled, lifting his right hand to rest it on top of hers against his cheek. 

“I mean it, Adrien,” she said and he looked at her. 

In her eyes, he saw no regret. No stress or anger towards him. Instead, he saw love, patience, and understanding. He saw a willingness to go through _anything_ for him. 

She reached forward, sliding off the railing into her feet and pulled him into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face against the top of her head, breathing her in. 

Having her there and being in her arms made everything seem okay. He still felt bad for darkening her world with his own problems, but he tried to push those feelings back as he held onto her. She would never leave him, he wouldn't be able to corrupt her. 

Ladybug held him, seemingly content to stay there for as long as he needed. In that moment, he never wanted to let go. 

“Will you do something for me?” She asked against his chest. Right then, she could have asked him to kill someone and all he would have needed was a name and a spoon. 

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Anything.”

“Stop being so hard on yourself. And come to me whenever the darkness starts to feel overwhelming. Even if you don't want to talk, I'll be your drinking buddy. Stop trying to handle everything alone.” 

He hesitated briefly before nodding, his cheek sliding against her hair. Her arms around him tightened. 

He wasn't sure how long they stood there, embracing under the stars. All he knew was with each passing minute, he could feel her slowly filling all of the cracks in his heart with her love, starting to put him back together.


	26. Chapter 26

“Would you _stop?!_ ” Chat Noir yelled as he dodged yet another wave of fire aimed in his direction. Dragoness was _pissed_ and determined to take it out on him. 

He was alone; Marinette had gone to a business conference to discuss adding a lingerie line from her collection to some company he forgot the name of. Dragoness had hunted him down and he had to take her on by himself. 

“I saw you with her,” she yelled, launching more fire at him. He ducked under it, swiping at her with his staff. 

“I don't know what the hell you're talking about,” he yelled back, spinning his staff in front of him to reduce her attacks to smoke before they hit him. 

Still spinning his weapon in front of him, he advanced on her. Once he got close enough, he stopped spinning and lunged for her, grabbing her around the waist and tackling her to the ground. He wrestled with her, trying to pin her arms down, and she spit at him. 

“Ugh,” he exclaimed, disgusted. “That was completely uncalled for!” She kicked at him, but he held onto her hands. He knew that the second he let go of her hands, he would be burned. 

“ _You betrayed me!_ ” She shouted, thrashing under him. Chat looked at her in annoyed confusion. 

“What the hell are you _talking about?!_ ” 

She stilled so suddenly that Chat almost lost his balance. He corrected himself and she stared into his eyes, her face twisted in anger.

“I saw you with her,” she spat at him again. “With Marinette --with _Ladybug_ \-- the other night. I found out you were special so I went through all this trouble to be special too so that you would realize that we belong together.” Chat’s eyes widened and she started thrashing again. “But instead _you're falling in love with that bitch!_ ”

Fuelled by her rage, she flipped them over and Chat suddenly found himself flat on his back with her foot pressed against his chest, pinning him down. She leaned down close to his face and for the first time, he felt an inkling of fear running down his spine. 

“If I can't have you,” she snarled, her breath fanning his face. “ _Nobody can_.” She raised her right hand, flames at her fingertips, and Chat braced himself for the hit. 

Before her flames made contact with his face, though, she was roughly pulled away. He leapt to his feet and saw Ladybug holding Dragoness in the same position she had just had him pinned in. 

“You looked like you could use some help, Kitty,” she quipped, never taking her eyes off of the girl beneath her. Chat came up beside the spotted heroine and stared down at his masked ex wife. 

“M'lady,” he greeted her smoothly. “Always a pleasure.” 

His flirty tone infuriated Dragoness and she growled and flung out a hand. Chat tackled Ladybug to the ground as the place where she had been standing went up in a pillar of flames. They hit the grass, Chat shielding her body with his own. 

“Jeez, what's got the stick up her ass today?” Ladybug grumbled. Chat got to his feet and pulled out his staff, facing the seething woman several feet away. 

“She’s pissed because I hugged you,” he muttered as she got to her feet beside him. She paused, turning to him with an incredulous look on her face.

“Are you serious?” She asked, deadpan. Chat just shrugged and rolled his eyes. 

Dragoness charged at them and they sprung into action. Chat noticeably held back, unwilling to hurt the girl even though she seemed intent on killing him. She didn't stop until she had Chat Noir pinned against a tree, a wall of flames separating the two of them from the rest of the world. 

“Sara,” he said in a gentle voice, no longer trying to escape. She glared at him. “Why are you doing this?” 

“You belong to me,” she snarled, the heat and wind from the flames whipping her hair around her face like a fiery halo. He shook his head. 

“No, I don't. I'm a person, not an object. I don't _belong to_ anyone.” She rolled her eyes, shoving him harder against the tree. The bark against his back poked him uncomfortably. 

“You belong _with_ me, then,” she snapped. Chat shook his head, working to keep his voice calm. 

“No, I don't. You cheated on me, you hurt me. You need to own up to that and move on. You can do better than me.” 

She punched the tree behind his head. 

“We were going to have a family!” Her face was red and she was shaking. He gently stepped off the tree, putting a hand on her shoulder. He fought back his own anger at her behavior and tried to sound sympathetic. 

“But, we didn't. And that's nobody's fault. But you can't keep following me and doing this,” he said, taking another step forward. 

Her face softened and for a second, Chat thought he was getting through to her. In the blink of an eye, though, she grabbed him and threw him through the flames surrounding them. He curled in on himself as he flew through the air. 

He landed in the grass on the other side and rolled to a stop, miraculously unharmed. Ladybug ran to him, her hands fluttering over his body to check for damage. He gently pushed her hands away, sitting up. 

“I'm okay,” he said, staring at where the fire had been. There was only a charred ring of earth in its place and Dragoness was gone. Chat growled and struck the ground with his fist, cussing under his breath. 

“She'll be back,” Ladybug said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He glared at the ground. 

“I'm so ready for this to be over,” he mumbled, mostly to himself. 

“Come on,” Ladybug said, getting to her feet and pulling him up after her. They made their way back to her apartment and detransformed. 

Marinette got out cookies and cheese for their tired kwamis and sat them on the chair across the living room to eat. Adrien felt her take her place next to him on the couch. 

He sat with his head in his hands and sighed. She rubbed light circles on his back and didn’t say anything until he picked his head up. 

“She knows you're Ladybug,” he said. Marinette’s eyes widened and her hand froze on his back. He looked back at the floor. 

“Do you know how she found out?” She asked after a moment, her hand beginning to move against his back again. He shook his head. 

“No clue. I don't even know how she found out who I am,” he said. 

Marinette leaned back against the arm of the couch, facing him, and propped her feet up on his lap. She shrugged. 

“Well, I guess this way she knows I'm perfectly capable of kicking her ass,” she joked, and Adrien gave her a half smile. She could always make him smile, no matter what. 

“I think you've made that perfectly clear,” he said, chuckling.

“She’s too good at getting away,” Marinette mumbled, staring off into space. 

“Everytime she shows up again, her powers are stronger. I think she's hiding out somewhere to practice,” Adrien offered. 

“If we take the fight to water, her powers would be useless, right?” Marinette asked him, perking up. He caught sight of a sparkle in her eye and he smiled. His Lady had a plan. 

“I would assume so,” he replied, leaning forward and giving her his undivided attention. She spoke animatedly, gesturing with her hands. 

“What if we get her in the Seine? Like, literally just throw her in. I'll happily do it. And we can pin her there and take her Miraculous!” 

Marinette jumped up, pacing and hashing out the details of her plan and Adrien watched her with a small smile on his face. He loved seeing her like this--in charge and confident. 

She turned to him, an eager look on her face. With a start, Adrien realized she was waiting for him to respond. He had been staring at her and not listening at all. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. 

“Um,” he mumbled and she laughed, flopping back down on the couch. 

“You completely spaced out, didn’t you?” He gave her an apologetic grin. 

“You could say that,” he said. She patted his knee, sending tingles up his leg. 

“Don't worry. We'll go over it again once I work out some more details.” 

Adrien gave her a grateful smile. All they needed to do was wait for Dragoness to appear again. He hoped this would all be over soon. 

He was finally ready to move on with his life. And, if his stuttering heartbeat was any indication, he knew exactly who he was ready to move on with.


	27. Chapter 27

As expected, Sara disappeared for a while, leaving them in relative peace. However, Marinette had also noticed that Adrien had been acting sort of strange the past few days. He seem flustered and distracted, but every time she asked if he was okay he would flush and assure her that everything was fine. 

Nino and Alya were out of town. Alya was chasing a story and Nino, of course, had gone with her. So that left Marinette and Adrien to seek out company with each other. Since they usually spent most of their time together, nothing much had changed in that regard.

Marinette pushed back from her sewing desk and looked at her work with pride. She had finished Alya and Nino's engagement gift: a hand sewn quilt made of all of the flags of the places they'd travelled to surrounding where she had embroidered their names in the center. She turned and held it up to show Tikki. 

“That looks great, Marinette,” she praised, making her chosen smile. She carefully folded the quilt and placed it back on her desk, making a mental note to wrap it before they got back home. Her phone dinged with a text from Adrien and she picked it up. 

**Hey, pretty lady. I'm making you dinner at my place tonight.**

Marinette giggled at his playful flirting and typed out a response. 

_And what if I already had plans?_

She pocketed her phone and set off to the kitchen to start making a dessert to bring over there. Adrien was a fantastic cook, but his baking was subpar at best. She pulled out the ingredients she needed for Chocolate Orange Souffle and set to work until her phone chimed again. 

**You would have told me ;)**

_Maybe I have a date tonight :p_ , she sent back, rolling her eyes at how long it had been since she had gone on a date. Adrien was right, she definitely would have told him if she had plans and he knew it. But, that didn't mean she couldn't mess with him a little. 

**Well, then, I’d need to meet the man/woman that would be so lucky as to steal you away from me**

Marinette flushed a little bit at that. He was such a flirt sometimes. 

_Jealous, Kitty?_ She added a laughing emoji, setting her filled ramekins in the oven to bake. 

She sat in front of the oven to keep an eye on them and pulled her phone back out of her pocket. 

**Only if you're gonna be wearing one of those risque designs of yours on your imaginary date ;)**

She felt her face flush again. She cast a quick glance at the oven and typed her reply. 

_Well, of course! A girl has to have her battle armor on to feel confident. I'm picking that out now ;)_

She couldn't believe she was openly flirting back with him. She just couldn't help herself. He had been playfully flirting with her for over a week and she wondered how he would react to her giving it right back. Her phone dinged again. 

**Oh, I would love to assist with that. Why don't you model some for me and I'll tell you which one looks best? ;)**

Marinette sat her phone down and squealed into her hand, her face aflame. She dimly heard Tikki giggling at her from the counter. 

Apparently, flirting back only encouraged him to kick it up a notch. Well, two could play at that game. 

_Maybe I can wear my choice over to your place tonight and give you a sneak preview~_

She hit send before she could talk herself out of it, tossing her phone onto the counter. She reached down to pull their desserts out of the oven and placed them in an insulated bag to keep them warm. She checked her phone. 

**Ah ha! So you are coming over tonight! I knew you would tell me if you had a date :p**

She giggled at his eagerness. 

_Purr-haps I pushed my date back_ , she typed, knowing the pun would get to him. His response was almost instantaneous. 

**She puns! :3 you know the way to this cat's heart, princess.**

She laughed and started to type a response when another message came through. 

**In that case, I'd definitely love that sneak preview ;)**

She laughed and changed the subject before she got too bold in her flirting. She knew he wasn't serious. 

_What time should I be there? I made dessert for us!_

She walked to her bathroom to take a shower and get ready. When she got out, he had responded to her text. 

**You know you can come over whenever you want. But I should be done cooking in about an hour and a half.**

She sent him a thumbs up and a smiling cat emoji and tossed her phone on the bed. She took her time getting ready, deciding to make herself look good. Their playful flirting had made her feel daring and she wanted to make him think about how attractive she was. 

Marinette knew she was pretty. She didn't think she was conceited about it, but she knew how to dress and fix her makeup to flatter her assets. So, she did just that. 

 

An hour and twenty minutes later, she let herself into Adrien's apartment wearing a pair if shorts and a simple, form fitting tee and her makeup skillfully applied. She kicked her shoes off at the door and wandered into the kitchen where he was finishing up their meal. 

“Hey, Bug,” he greeted, smiling at her brightly. She hopped up on the counter beside him and returned his smile. 

“Hey, Kitty. That smells amazing,” she said, looking over at the stove. Tikki flew out from underneath Marinette's loose hair and flew over to search for Plagg. 

Adrien glanced at her for a moment before reaching out and tucking her hair behind her ear. She flushed. 

“I like your hair down,” he said softly. Her face turned a darker shade of red. It would never cease to amaze her how easily he could reduce her insides to putty. 

They sat down to dinner and filled their time with casual conversation. Adrien practically inhaled his dessert, showering Marinette with compliments on her baking. By the time they moved to his couch, her face was so red she wouldn't have been surprised if her head burst into flames. 

She settled on the couch next to him as the movie started. He draped his arm over her shoulders and she leaned into his side. Marinette tried to focus on the movie, she really did, but the weight of Adrien’s arm around her was making her heart soar and her stomach do flips. 

When the movie ended, it was late. Marinette had drifted closer to Adrien, resting her head on his chest and he was running his fingers through her hair. They sat in comfortable silence as the credits rolled. 

“I'm glad you pushed back your date for me,” he chuckled. She turned her face up to look at him. 

“You know I didn't have a date,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

“Good,” he said quietly, pulling her closer. “Can’t have anyone stealing you away from me.” She felt her face burn again. 

“That would imply that I'm yours in the first place, Kitty,” she quipped, reaching up to tap his nose. He put a hand against his chest and leaned his head back. 

“Me- _owch_ , M’lady. You wound me,” he gasped dramatically. She laughed and leaned back, poking him in the sides and making him jump. “No, no. None of that.” 

She giggled and poked him again and he yelped as he jumped away from her. She followed him, her fingers relentless on his sides as he thrashed and laughed underneath her. She let up for a few seconds for him to catch his breath. While her guard was down, he attached his fingers to her sides and turned the tables. 

The tickle war continued for several minutes before turning into a wrestling match. They rolled off the couch, Marinette pinned beneath him as they fought. Soon, their wrestling turned to laughter and Adrien stood up, grabbing Marinette's hand and pulling her up with him. 

They stood in silence, smiling and looking into each other's eyes. The apartment was dark, the light from the TV shining on their faces. Adrien lifted his hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. 

“Marinette,” he said softly, looking down at her mouth. She swallowed. 

“Yeah?” She asked, just as quiet. His eyes flicked back and forth between hers and her mouth. 

“If you don't leave now, I'm not going to be able to stop myself from kissing you,” he muttered. Her breath caught in her throat and she leaned in, her eyes darting down to his lips. 

“Then don't,” she whispered. 

Threading his fingers through her hair, he tilted her head up and gently brought his lips to hers.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much just adrienette filler fluff. Sorry that updates have been slowing down some, my babies have been sick so I have barely had any down time to work on this. Thanks for being patient and continuing to leave such encouraging comments!

Marinette woke up the next morning warm and blissfully happy. She stretched, rolling onto her back. The sheets were soft against her bare skin. 

Shifting to get comfortable again, her toes brushed against something. Marinette froze, slowly turning her head to the side. 

Adrien was on his stomach beside her, his face turned away from her. His blonde hair was adorably messy. She trailed her eyes down his bare back, stopping where the sheet was bunched around his waist. 

The events of the previous night flooded her memory and she smiled to herself, blushing down to her toes. As soon as they had kissed the first time, it was like a dam had broken. Their kisses had quickly grown more and more passionate until they had stumbled down the hall and into his bed. 

While she wasn't sure if this meant they were in a relationship, Marinette had no regrets. She knew Adrien cared about her and if he wanted to wait until Sara was completely gone to start a relationship, she was okay with that. Being with him had felt comfortable and far less awkward than she had expected. 

She reached out and lightly trailed her hand down his back. He shifted and turned on his side to face her and she stilled. Adrien cracked open one eye and looked at her before closing it again. His arm reached out and wrapped around her, pulling her closer to him and covering them with the blanket.

“Good morning,” she said, cuddling up to his chest. He tightened his grip on her and nuzzled against her hair, humming contentedly. A quiet purr escaped him and she giggled. 

“Morning, Princess,” he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep. She giggled again. 

“Looks like you got your sneak preview after all, Kitty,” she said, feeling her face heat up. He smiled wide, his eyes still closed. 

“I think I'm going to need to see previews of all of your _battle armor_ , as you call it,” he said cheekily, finally looking down at her. 

Her fingers idly traced the keyboard on his side and she smiled up at him. 

“I think that can be arranged,” she said. “But, um, we should probably talk about where we stand right now.” He stretched and rolled off of the bed. She watched him as he put on a pair of sweatpants and grabbed a t-shirt of his for her to wear and hunted for her underwear.

“Food first,” he said. “Then talk. Deal?” He handed the clothes to her and she nodded, getting up to get dressed. His shirt came down to her mid-thighs and she decided she didn't need pants for the time being. 

They made their way to the kitchen, making coffee and grabbing a few blueberry muffins Marinette had made for him the day before. They brought their breakfast to the couch and sat down. Marinette tucked her feet up under herself and faced him. 

“I understand if you don't want to start any kind of real relationship right now,” she started when he turned to look at her. She stared into her coffee cup as she spoke. “I don't have any regrets if you want to go back to being just friends until we take care of things with your ex.”

When she looked up at him, he was shaking his head. He leaned forward and put his hand on her knee.

“Marinette, I'm more than ready to move on. Sara isn't going to control my life, I'm not going to give her that satisfaction. I want to be with you. More than I've ever wanted anything in my life, actually,” he said earnestly. Beaming, she leaned forward and kissed him quickly. 

“I want to be with you too,” she said and then laughed. “I'm glad you said that. It would have been very hard to keep my hands off of you.” 

 

Their newly established relationship didn't change much between them other than increased flirting and kissing. Other than that, they were still best friends and partners, as it should be. Marinette had never felt so comfortable so fast in any of her past relationships. It was nice. 

She sketched some design ideas out in her sketchbook as Adrien made dinner for them. He had music playing and was singing along to a song she had never heard before. His voice washed over her, making her heart flutter in her chest. 

How had she never known when they were younger that he was such a good singer? She closed her sketchbook and watched him from her spot on the couch. She had a fond smile on her face as she watched him playfully dance to the refrigerator and back over to the stove. 

He noticed her watching after a minute and he smiled, motioning her over. She stood with a laugh and made her way to him as he put their food in the oven to bake. When she reached him, he grabbed her hands and spun her. 

They danced in the kitchen for the rest of the song and into the next one, laughing and stumbling. As the second sing ended, Adrien picked Marinette up by the waist and sat her on the counter, standing between her knees. 

She leaned her forehead against his as they caught their breath. She loved him. She loved him so much she felt like her heart was going to explode with it. 

Marinette threw her arms around her neck and kissed him, trying to put all of her feelings into the action. Her sudden passion caught him off guard for a split second before he eagerly reciprocated. 

“Oh, gross,” Plagg complained, zipping into the other room muttering about disgusting humans and their mating habits, much to Tikki's amusement.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to get dark.   
> Buckle up!

Sara glared daggers at the laptop in front of her. Her blood was boiling and her teeth ground together so hard she was sure they would break. Her hands were clenched into white, shaking fists on her lap. 

On the screen, she was watching as Adrien undressed Marinette and lowered her onto the bed. She watched the dark haired girl pull off Adrien's-- _her_ Adrien’s-- shirt and begin kissing her way down his neck in a way Sara _knew_ he liked. 

She slammed the screen shut and let out an enraged shriek. The cameras she had installed in Marinette's apartment didn't record sound, but she didn't need to hear them to know what was going on. They were together. He had betrayed her. 

She was holed up in an abandoned house on the outskirts of Paris, where no one would think to look for her. The dragon kwami hovered nervously over the desk, silently looking at her with wide eyes as she started to pace. 

“She thinks she can move in on _my_ husband?” Sara muttered as she stalked back and forth. “She’s wrong. She doesn't know who she's messing with.” 

Sara stopped in front of the wall beside the desk. It was covered in photos of Adrien and Marinette together, along with a detailed list of Adrien’s upcoming photoshoot schedule. A couple of the photos featured Nino and Alya, who were due to be returning to Paris that evening. 

She narrowed her eyes as she looked over Adrien's schedule, a plan beginning to form in her mind. She turned to the kwami. 

“I need you to phase through and unlock the basement door for me. Can you do that?” 

The small red dragon nodded solemnly and followed her out the bedroom door. Longg opened the door, and she descended down the stairs and surveyed the room. Concrete floor, concrete walls, low hanging rafters. Perfect. 

Sara set to work sweeping the floor. She made a quick trip to the nearest store and bought some supplies. Returning home, she set everything up how she would need it. 

When she was finished, she walked back to the bedroom. 

“Adrien has a photoshoot tomorrow afternoon for three hours. That's probably the only time he's going to be away from Marinette,” she told the kwami. 

“I don't think this is a good idea,” Longg said hesitantly. 

“Why, because she's Ladybug?” Sara sneered, rolling her eyes. “All I have to do us catch her off guard. I've been hiding for long enough that they've let their guard down.” 

“Even with her guard down, she is very strong,” the dragon warned. “And if she transforms, she is even stronger.” Sara smirked. 

“She won’t transform. I won't give her the chance.”

Longg eyed her warily. Sara knew the kwami didn't like her, but she couldn't bring herself to care. 

“All I need to do is separate her from her kwami,” she mumbled, thinking. She only had a window of three hours to work with. 

Sitting down at her desk, she opened her laptop again to see the live feed from Marinette’s apartment. Marinette was sitting at her desk sewing while Alya was playing a video game on the couch with Adrien. Nino was curled up on the chair with a notepad, looking deep in thought. 

She tapped her fingers on the desk, her eyes falling on the red and black box that Longg and the miraculous had been in. She picked it up. 

“Could you get out of this if you were trapped in it?” She asked. The kwami's eyes widened and he hesitated to respond.

She smirked. That was all the answer she needed. 

Grabbing a duffel bag, she threw in the box, a bat, some rope, and some tape. She crossed back to her laptop and sat down, watching the screen intently. 

The four friends were laughing. Marinette was sitting with her legs thrown over Adrien’s lap. The sight made Sara's blood boil. 

Marinette would pay for trying to steal Adrien from her. Sara would make sure that she would never be an issue again.


	30. Chapter 30

“I'll see you when I get back,” Adrien said, leaning down to give Marinette a quick kiss. “I want to take you out tonight.” 

Marinette smiled up at him, her arms around his waist. 

“Sounds good, Kitty,” she said, giving him a tight hug. Adrien turned out the door and headed off to his photoshoot. 

They had spend the night before in his apartment as well as the morning. After he left, she made her way back to her own place. Looking around, she decided to spend some time cleaning. 

The day was nice, so she opened all of her windows to let the apartment air out. 

“I'm going to take a nap if you don't need any help,” Tikki said from her place on the girl's shoulder. “Plagg and I watched TV all night.” 

Marinette chuckled and walked to her room, placing Tikki in her little bed and dropping a kiss on the black spot on her forehead. 

“I'll come get you if I need you. Have a nice nap.” With that, Marinette shut her bedroom door and made her way to the kitchen armed with cleaning supplies. 

Putting in headphones and turning up her music, she set to work. She sang while she worked, focusing completely on her task. Once her kitchen was clean, she moved on to her living room. 

Marinette was facing her sewing desk, changing songs on her phone, when she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. She pulled out one earphone and turned around. 

She felt a blow to the side of her head and felt herself crumple as everything went dark.

 

Marinette groaned. Her head was killing her. She tried to bring her hand up to rub it but her wrist was caught. Opening her eyes to a slit, she looked around. 

She was laying on a concrete floor in what looked like a basement. A single bare bulb hung in the center of the room. Her wrists were tied together with rope that was bound to a drainage grate in the floor. 

She struggled into a sitting position on her knees, her arms pulled down in front of her. 

“Tikki?” She whispered, getting no response. “Tikki?” She called, louder this time. Still nothing. 

She pulled at her blinds, succeeding only in giving herself rope burn. 

“Tikki!” Marinette was shouting now. She continued to struggle against the ropes holding her. 

She was positive Sara was behind this. Marinette remembered cleaning her apartment and then…nothing. She looked around to see if there was anything she could free herself with but the basement was empty. 

“Sara!” She yelled at the door at the far end of the room. “Let me go, you bitch!” 

Marinette struggled for what felt like an hour before the door finally opened. Sara walked down the steps and came to crouch down in front of her. Marinette glared. 

“Glad to see you're awake,” Sara said, smirking. 

“Let me go,” Marinette growled, wishing she could knock the expression right off of her face. 

“Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I need you out of the way so that Adrien can see that he loves me. You're a distraction,” she explained. 

“Adrien doesn't love you anymore. Get it through your thick skull, you delusional moron,” Marinette snapped, tugging on the ropes again. 

Her head whipped to the side with a resounding smack and her cheek stung. Marinette saw red as she turned her face back to Sara, who placed her hand back on her knees.

“Adrien will come back to me, and you will no longer be an issue. Nobody knows where you are, Marinette. Your kwami isn't here. You are _powerless_.” Sara stood up and looked down at her. “You'll die here and then you'll be one less thorn in my side.” 

With that, she turned and left, her boots clicking against the floor. Marinette glared after her, yelling obscenities at her back. The door slammed shut and she heard the lock turn. 

Looking down at the ropes on her wrists in the dim light, she tried to figure out a way out of the intricate knots. They were tight, just shy of cutting off circulation. There was no way she would be able to slide her hands free. 

The rope was looped through the grate, so there looked to be nothing she could do to free herself. The situation seemed hopeless and Marinette’s head was pounding. She closed her eyes and took deep, measured breath to quell the panic rising inside her. 

“What would Ladybug do?” She whispered to herself once she calmed down.

_Step one: asses the situation._

Marinette looked around again, seeing if there was anything she could use to her advantage. There was a metal table across the room. A small window above it, showing that it was nearly nighttime. 

To her left, there was a bookshelf. It was also out of her reach. Finally, Marinette looked down. She was wearing her sweatshirt, which had a zipper that ran halfway down her chest. 

_Step two: MacGyver the shit out of whatever is at hand._

Leaning down, she grabbed the zipper between her fingers. She made her grip as tight as she could. Bracing her knees against the floor, Marinette leaned back up and _pulled_. The zipper slipped out of her fingers. 

She did this several more times until the zipper finally broke free. Leaning down, she looked close at the small metal object. It had broken off with a jagged point. 

It would take a while, but it would do. 

She began to pick at the rope looped through the grate with the pointed end. She picked at the individual threads, her goal to unravel it enough to pull free. Her hands would still be tied, but she would be able to move. 

She picked at the rope until her hands started to cramp. Not wanting to drop her only means of escape down the drain, she leaned down and grabbed it between her teeth, setting it down on the concrete floor safely away from the opening. 

Marinette looked out the window and saw that it was dark. She sighed, laying down on her stomach and laying her head on her arm. Her Kitty would find her, she knew it. She just had to hold out and do what she could until then.

In the silence of the night, in the solitude of her prison, she allowed herself a moment of weakness. She stopped fighting against the wave of despair threatening to drown her. Burying her face against her arms, she finally allowed herself to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me over on tumblr username hellbreaker-ml0234. I will be posting short stories of my own as soon as I finish this!


	31. Chapter 31

When Adrien got home from his photoshoot, he stopped into his apartment for a quick shower before going to see Marinette. He had two places he wanted to take her for dinner and wanted to get her opinion on what kind of food she was in the mood for. Knocking on her door, he didn't get an answer. 

He called her to see when she would be back home and heard her phone ringing on the other side of the door. He knit his eyebrows together in confusion and decided to go in. The door was unlocked, which confused him more. 

Stepping into her apartment, the first thing he noticed was the chair at her desk was on its side. Her phone was laying next to it, headphones tangled on the floor. All of her windows were open. 

“Bug?” He called, stepping further into the apartment. When he got no answer, he made his way back toward her bedroom, Plagg departing to look at the rest of the place. He looked around the empty room, his eyes falling on the miraculous box on her nightstand. He walked over and opened it. 

In a flash of pink light, a frantic Tikki appeared in front of him. 

“Adrien! We have to save Marinette!” She exclaimed, a scared look on her face. Plagg appeared next to her. 

“What happened?” Adrien and Plagg asked in unison. 

“It was Sara! She came in the window and trapped me in that box. She must have done something to Marinette!” Tikki was shaking with Plagg working to comfort her and Adrien cupped both of them in his palm. 

 

Fifteen minutes later, a thoroughly _pissed off_ Adrien Agreste was standing in Master Fu's living room, explaining what he knew.

“I'm going to need help to find her,” he finished. The old man nodded, moving to retrieve the box full of miraculous. He pulled out the fox necklace and removed his own bracelet and handed them to Adrien. 

“These go to your friends. Ladybug gifted the fox to Alya and the turtle to Nino. Reveal yourself to them, they will be quick to act.” Adrien took the jewels from him. 

“Thank you,” he said before turning to run out. He sprinted to Nino and Alya’s apartment, banging on the door until a concerned Nino opened it. Adrien stumbled inside. 

“You have to come with me,” he started, handing the bracelet to Nino and the necklace to Alya. They looked up at him, shocked. “Marinette has been kidnapped and I need your help.” 

They each put on their respective miraculous jewels and Wayzz and Trixx appeared. Nino looked up at him.

“I guess this is a good time to tell you I've known you were Chat Noir for a while now. I figured it out when your excuses for disappearing got completely ridiculous," he said. Adrien stared at him, deciding to freak out about that tidbit of information later. Alya nodded. 

“And I've known about Marinette being Ladybug since high school,” she admitted. 

_Well_ , Adrien thought to himself, _looks like we weren't as slick as we thought._

“What's the plan, dude?” Nino asked, Wayzz sitting silently on his shoulder. Alya came over to stand beside them, Trixx nestled in her hair. Adrien froze. 

“I-I don't have one,” he admitted as his brain finally caught up to the situation at hand. His world spun wildly off its axis and he brought his hands up to tug on his hair. “Marinette is gone, Sara took her and it's my fault.” 

He started pacing, muttering to himself about how he should have known better. That he should have stayed away so she would be safe. Alya stilled him with a hand on his shoulder and silenced him with a stern look. 

“Listen, Sunshine. This is _not_ your fault and if Marinette was here she would kick your ass from here to next week if she heard you blaming yourself over this. This psychotic bitch is the one that took her, _not you_. It is _not_ your fault and so help me, Adrien, if you try to distance yourself from Marinette after this under the pretense of protecting her, I will beat that pretty model face of yours in with a shovel. Understand?” 

He stared at her with wide eyes and nodded, knowing without a doubt that she would do exactly as she said. Nino joined them at her other side and rested his hand on Adrien's other shoulder. 

“We'll find her, dude. You're not in this alone,” he said. Adrien took a deep breath to calm himself and nodded again. They led him over to the couch and made him sit. They sat on the table opposite him. 

“First, we need a plan,” Alya started. The kwami came out of their resting spots to join the conversation. 

“Spots is smart, kid. She's going to be okay until we get there,” Plagg said to Adrien in a rare moment of sincerity. Adrien nodded--words, he needed to make _words_ \--and scratched him behind the ears. 

“We need to figure out how she knew when to come in. She obviously planned this in advance,” Tikki said. 

“Cameras,” Nino muttered. All eyes turned to him. “Do you think she could have bugged the apartment?” 

Another wave of outrage rushed through Adrien. This needed to _end_. Alya pulled out her laptop. 

“If she did, I can probably trace the signal to where they're transmitting. That should give us a good starting point,” she said. 

“How do you know how to do that?” Adrien asked, finally rebooting his brain enough to speak. 

“Max has been teaching me some stuff at work,” she explained. “If I can't do it, we can call on him. But I should be able to.” Adrien nodded and stood, Plagg and Tikki flying into the pocket of his jacket. 

“Let's go to Marinette’s and see what we find,” he said. 

The three of them quickly made their way to Marinette's apartment and let themselves inside. Dividing up the rooms, they scoured the place for hidden cameras, searching high and low. 

“Dudes,” Nino called from her bedroom. “I found one.” 

Adrien and Alya rushed into the room to see him pulling down a small lense from the top of the windowsill. Adrien briefly thought about what that camera must have recorded, his face flushing slightly. 

Alya shot him a knowing look, wiggling her eyebrows, before they both turned their attention back to the present. She placed her laptop on Marinette's bed and Nino handed her the camera. 

Her fingers flew across the keys, a look of complete concentration on her face. Adrien looked at the screen in front of her, the lines of code thoroughly confusing the hell out of him. Nino had departed to the kitchen and Adrien faintly heard the coffee pot gurgling. It was late, they would be getting tired and all at once he was grateful for his friend's foresight. 

While Alya worked her wizardry on the computer, he joined his best friend in the kitchen. He set out food for the kwamis and they sat on the kitchen counter, eating and chirping amongst themselves in a kwami language Adrien had no hope of ever understanding. Nino was leaning against the counter. 

“We'll find her and take care of this, bro. Everything is going to be fine,” he said and Adrien shot him a small smile. While they waited on Alya, they discussed possible strategies. 

“I've got it!” Alya cried, running into the room with her computer. She pulled up a map and turned the screen to face the boys. “She's in a condemned house on the outskirts of Paris, here. I pulled up old blueprints of the house,” she pulled up another page, “and there's a basement. I'd bet that's where she's keeping our girl.”

Adrien scooped the girl up in a tight hug. 

“You're a goddess, woman,” he said and she laughed. 

“Don't you forget it, either,” she said once her feet were back on the ground. 

They discussed a few strategies and gulped down some coffee before they called on their transformations. Adrien typed the location of the house into his staff so they wouldn't get lost. 

At two in the morning, under the moonlight, Chat Noir, Carapace, and Rena Rouge jumped out the window to go save their friend.


	32. Chapter 32

When Marinette opened her eyes, it was still dark and her head was still pounding. Her arms hurt from being pulled out in front of her and her back was stiff. She pulled herself back up onto her knees with herculean effort. 

Her mouth was dry and her stomach grumbled in protest of its emptiness. Her wrists burned and chafed against the rope. She could hear faint footsteps overhead but Sara hadn't come back down to antagonize her. 

Marinette didn't consider herself a violent person. Sure, she kicked ass as Ladybug, but that was out of necessity. But Sara brought out the worst in her and Marinette wanted nothing more than to beat her into a bloody pulp. 

She hoped Adrien wasn't blaming himself but she knew that he probably was. Her Kitty had a guilt complex as wide as the Seine. She just knew he was beating himself up over her disappearance. 

More than anything, though, she knew that he would find her. No matter what. 

But that didn't mean she had to sit around like a damsel in distress while he figured out a plan. Cringing internally at having her mouth so close to the floor, she grabbed the zipper between her lips and transferred it to her hands. 

She began the meticulous work of picking at the threads. She had frayed a few of them when she first began, so she could see that she was making progress, albeit slowly. Her mind wandered as she worked. 

She hoped Tikki was okay. She had no idea how Sara had managed to keep her away. Marinette hoped that the kwami wasn’t hurt or lost. She hoped that Tikki was safely with Adrien.

A few more threads popped loose when Marinette heard the door open. She hid the zipper in her hand and glared up the stairs at the girl walking toward her. Sara crouched in front of her, looking at Marinette with her lip curled. 

“I can't decide if I should kill you now or let you die down here on your own,” she snarled. Marinette narrowed her eyes and remained silent. “Looks like no one is coming to save you after all.” 

“Adrien will come for me,” Marinette said, rolling her eyes. Sara leaned closer to her face. 

“He won't. With you out of the way, he’ll have time to think about the decisions he’s made.” She leaned even closer and gave a viscous smile. “The only person he’ll be _coming for_ is me.”

In a flash, Marinette reared up and headbutted Sara as hard as she could, feeling a satisfying _crack_ as she broke her nose. She felt the other girls blood sliding down her face as Sara fell backwards with a yelp, clutching her nose. Ignoring the pain in her wrists, Marinette swung around and threw her leg out, kicking her in the knee. 

Sara sat up, blood running down her face and her nose already turning an ugly shade of purple. There was murder in her eyes as she glared at Marinette, who met her murderous stare with one of her own. She stumbled to her feet, favoring her left knee. 

“Adrien will be _mine_ ,” she spat, blood spraying from her mouth. 

“You fucking wish, _bitch_ ,” Marinette spat back. With an angry screech, Sara turned and limped back to the door. 

When the door slammed shut, Marinette wiped her face in her shoulder as best she could and wanted no time in getting back to work on her binds. When she got free, she was going to end this, once and for all. 

“And then she’ll never be an issue for Adrien and I ever again,” she muttered to herself angrily. “We can do whatever the hell we want, get married, have kids, and be happy.” 

More and more threads popped free as the rope slowly started to unravel. Fueled by her rage, she worked steadily through the cramps in her fingers, never slowing down.


	33. Chapter 33

The three heroes bounded across the rooftops, Chat Noir taking the lead. In all his twenty-four years of life, he had never been so pissed off. Sara had more than crossed the line this time. She had taken the line and jumped rope with it, sprinting far onto the other side. 

Tikki was huddled in the pocket of Carapace's suit until she could get back to Marinette. Of all of them, Carapace had the most level head. He was the one that would be able to keep Tikki safe as well as keep the other two from absolutely destroying Sara. 

They were heroes, not killers. But if Dragoness got roughed up some during the fight, well, it couldn't be helped. 

When the house was in sight, they grouped together on a rooftop a little ways away. 

“I'll go in first through the door and confront her. Rena, I want you to alert the police and go around through the back and listen for my signal. Carapace, I'm putting you in charge of finding Marinette. Sound good?” Chat asked, looking at his team. They nodded, putting their ear pieces in so that they could communicate. 

“Chat, as much as I know you want to, and as much as I would love to see it,” Carapace took a deep breath. “Don't cataclysm her face.”

“I won't,” Chat replied, a little dejectedly. Chat had his qualms about fighting Sara at all, but it needed to be done. He would protect his Lady, no matter what. 

“I know Marinette is going to want to transform right away and go after her. Please, try to get her to let you make sure she is okay first,” Rena said, resting her hand on her fiance's shoulder. He nodded. 

“Don't worry. I'll take care of her.”

With that, the heroes leapt down and made their way to the house. Chat took up his position in the front while Rena and Carapace went around back. 

“Ready,” Rena's voice came through his earpiece. Backing up a few steps, Chat ran and jumped at the door, kicking it in. Dust flew everywhere, catching in the light of the candles that were all around. 

Dragoness came down the stairs, a serene smile on her face. 

“Hey, babe,” she said, her voice rubbing Chat's nerves like a cheese grater. 

“Where is Marinette?” He spat, his hands clenched into fists. She scoffed and waved her hand. 

“She won’t be an issue anymore, don't worry,” she said nonchalantly. There was a crash at the back door and Dragoness whirled around. 

Chat jumped forward and tackled her to the ground. She threw her hands out in front of her and the candles surrounding them leapt to life. He saw Rena Rouge make quick work of extinguishing the candles in the kitchen before Dragoness could use them to her advantage. 

She threw her arm back and Chat jumped back to dodge an elbow to the face. As soon as his weight shifted, she rolled out from under him, bracing her feet against his chest and kicking him back. Chat rolled with the momentum, flipping over and jumping back to his feet. 

Rena ran in from behind and got her arm around Dragoness’ neck. 

“I found her,” Carapace said in Chat's ear and he felt a knot in his chest loosen. Knowing that Marinette was safe, he turned his full attention to the fight in front of him. 

Dragoness raised her arm and he lunged for it, grabbing her wrist before she could burn Rena. She bent forward, throwing the fox superheroine over her shoulder. On her back, Rena curled up and braced her hands against the floor, kicking up with her feet and kicking the other girl in the face. 

She stumbled back, grabbing her already bruised nose with one hand and throwing the other back, making the flame from one of the candles grow and leap at Chat and Rena. He tackled his teammate to the ground and covered her with his own body as the flames flew over them. 

A green blur flew in from the shadows and knocked against Dragoness’ wrist, breaking it. The flames disappeared, retreating back to the candle. A red and black yo-yo came from the direction the shield had flown from, wrapping around the girl and yanking her back. 

Ladybug and Carapace emerged from the dark kitchen, Ladybug holding fast to her weapon as Dragoness struggled against it. Out of the corner of Chat’s eye, he saw flashing red and blue lights from the window. 

Good. Rena had called the police before heading in, hoping they would make it in time. Ladybug ran forward, punching Dragoness in the face in one swift motion. 

“Karma is a bitch,” she snapped as she wrapped her hand around the girl's miraculous, snatching it off. 

A dark red light phased up her body until Sara sat in her black, her face painted red in an ugly rage. Her nose was severely bruised and her lip was split. Her face was red, a look of pure rage plastered on her face. 

“You _bitch!_ ” She yelled, thrashing uselessly against the magical string holding her. “He is _mine!_ ” 

All four superheros rolled their eyes and Chat snatched her up and turned her so her back was to him, marching her towards the door. 

“I'll never be yours again, Sara.” He muttered to her as they walked through the door.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are coming to an end in this story. There is one more chapter and then a short Epilogue. Thank you all for all of your kudos, comments, and critiques. I was terrified to put my writing out on a public platform and you guys have been the best have given me to confidence to post more stories in the future. Thank you so much <3

Marinette sat in her apartment with her two best friends and her boyfriend and breathed a sigh of relief. Adrien had made sure to be touching her in one way or another since she was rescued; holding her hand, an arm over her shoulders or around her waist, a hand on her knee. She didn't mind it. 

After Sara was taken away in handcuffs, the police assured them that she would be taken back home to undergo a mental evaluation and would remain in custody. The paramedics examined Marinette and, aside from a mild concussion and some rope burn, she was fine. 

“I'm so glad you're safe, girl,” Alya breathed, hugging Marinette close. She smiled and returned the hug. Nino clapped her on the shoulder. 

“Thank you guys for coming for me,” she said. Adrien squeezed her knee. 

“Of course, dude. You know you can always count on us,” Nino said, throwing his arm around her shoulders in a side hug. 

Alya finally relinquished her grip on Marinette and her and Nino handed back their miraculous. 

“It felt good to be in the suit again,” Alya admitted. “But hopefully it won't be necessary anymore.” 

Marinette smiled at her friends as she took their jewels from them. 

“We’re gonna go ahead and head home,” Alya said as her and Nino stood up. “I'm sure Adrien wants to welcome you home.” She winked and Marinette flushed, giggling. 

“Thanks, you guys,” Adrien said as he stood up  
He hugged Alya and fist bumped Nino and the couple left. Adrien pulled Marinette into his arms and peppered her face with kisses. 

“I'm so sorry that happened,” he started, pulling back to look into her eyes. Marinette silenced him with a finger over his lips and shook her head.

“No, Kitty. You don't get to apologize for someone else's actions.” He opened his mouth to argue, probably to say that he was the reason Sara had been there in the first place, but Marinette silenced him with a look. 

Instead of arguing, he leaned in and captured her lips with his own, kissing her deeply and threading his fingers in her hair. She responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing him back against the arm of the couch. He moved his hands to her hips as she straddled his waist and took control of the kiss. 

Marinette tried to kiss away his guilt, reassuring him that she didn't blame him for what had happened in any way. After a while, she pulled back and rested her forehead against his own, looking into his eyes. He stared back, his pupils dilated and his face flushed. 

“I love you,” she said softly. His face morphed into an expression of pure happiness and adoration as he wrapped his arms around her middle and crushed her to him. 

“I love you, too. So, so much,” he whispered against her neck. Her heart soared and she ran her fingers through his hair, smiling wide. 

She felt whole with him. Happy. She wanted to wake up and kiss him every morning and fall asleep with him every night. She wanted him at his worst as well as at his best. 

“Move in with me,” she blurted and he pulled back, looking at her with startled eyes. 

“What?” He looked deep into her eyes and she gave him a small smile. 

“If you want to, that is. I want to live with you. I want to wake up with you and go to bed with you. I want to make dinner with you and get a cat with you. I want you. Always.” She didn't break eye contact as she spoke, her smile steadily growing wider. 

“Are you sure?” He asked, searching her face for any uncertainty. She leaned forward and kissed him. 

“More sure than I've ever been about anything,” she murdered against his lips. She felt his mouth curve into a smile. 

“Then I’d love to move in with you. And get a cat with you. And everything else,” he said, putting his hands on her face and kissing her sweetly. 

“I'll help you pack tomorrow,” she said, leaning down to lay her head on his chest. He traced idle circles against her back and she listened to his heartbeat. The sound relaxed her and she soon drifted off into a peaceful sleep.


	35. Chapter 35

After two weeks of living with Adrien, Marinette had a surprise for him. She threw open the door to their apartment with a huge smile on her face. 

“Adrien,” she called, kicking off her shows and juggling the things in her hands. He rounded the corner out of the kitchen and froze, staring at her with wide eyes and a smile. She wiggled her butt excitedly and practically skipped over to him, placing a black kitten into his arms. 

It stared up at him with wide green eyes and he scratched it under the chin, looking at her happily. 

“I told you I wanted to get a cat,” she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Do you like him? His name is The Great Catsby.” 

He laughed at the pun and wrapped one of his arms around her, the other holding tight to the kitten, and kissed the top of her head. 

“I love him. I love _you_ ,” he said, pulling back to nuzzle the small purring cat. 

 

Later that night after dinner, they were visited by Master Fu. They made tea and sat around the table. 

“I appreciate you rescuing Longg and retrieving the Dragon Miraculous,” he said. They smiled at him. “But, it is time to return your miraculous.”

They nodded. They knew it was coming. They had taken their time to say goodbye to Tikki and Plagg. The threat was gone, there was no reason for them to still be active. 

“The two of you have been a fantastic Ladybug and Chat Noir. It is also time for me to retire,” he said and they looked at him with wide eyes. 

“From being the guardian?” Marinette asked, shocked. He nodded. 

“Who is going to take your place?” Adrien asked as the old man sipped his tea. Master Fu sat his cup down, folding his hands on top of the table and regarding them with kind eyes. 

“That is the reason for my visit,” he said. “I would like for you to help me choose. Do you know of anyone that you believe to be capable of such an important task?” He asked. 

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other, a silent communication passed between them. 

“I have someone in mind,” Marinette said to Master Fu after a moment, glancing back at Adrien. “I think our friend Nino would be perfect.”

Adrien nodded. 

“He’s very capable,” he said. “Nino has been my best friend for years. He’s smart, very level-headed, and incredibly kind. I trust him with my life.” Marinette nodded in agreement. 

Master Fu stroked his small beard thoughtfully before giving a decisive nod. 

“I will call on him for a visit. If he is willing, I will begin teaching him all that he needs to know. I trust your judgment.” 

“I have one request, Master,” Adrien said, unsure. The guardian looked at him and nodded. “May we return our miraculous to you in the morning? I'd like to take my lady on one last run.”

Master Fu gave a wide smile. 

“Of course, that would be perfectly fine. Go enjoy your last night as Ladybug and Chat Noir. I sincerely hope that you will not need to take up those roles again.” 

They said their goodbyes before transforming one last time and leaping off into the night. 

They chased each other over the rooftops, their laughter echoing through the night. They circled the city before making their way to the top of the Eiffel Tower. They leaned against the railing and looked out at the lights of their city. 

“I'm going to miss this,” Ladybug sighed. Chat Noir wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned her head on his shoulder. 

“Me, too,” he said. He took a deep breath and she noticed him fiddling with something in his pocket. 

“Whatcha got there, Kitty?” She asked, motioning to his pocket. He flushed and removed his hand. 

“Nothing,” he said, giving her a shy smile. She quirked her eyebrow at him and made a grab for it. He danced out of her way, laughing. 

“C’mon, tell me,” she whined, grabbing at him again. He laughed and captured her hands with his own.

“Do you really want to know?” He asked, his eyes twinkling. She nodded excitedly and he chuckled and took a deep breath. 

“Okay, so. I know we haven't been together very long, but I've known you forever. I've loved you forever, both sides of you. You're my other half and I love you more than life itself. So,” Ladybug’s eyes widened as he got down on one knee, pulling a ring box from his pockets. She covered her mouth with her hands. “will you marry me?”

The ring was a simple princess cut ruby nestled in between two black diamonds on a white gold band. It was simple and perfect. Tears ran down Ladybug's face as she tackled him in a hug, kissing all over his face. 

“Yes-- yes-- yes,” she breathed out between kisses. He laughed and slid the ring into her gloved finger, grabbing her face and kissing her deeply.


	36. Epilogue

Marinette, Adrien, Nino, and Alya stood in the kitchen of Adrien and Marinette's apartment. The guys were off to the side at the table writing song lyrics, talking quietly amongst themselves. 

Marinette rested her hand against her swollen belly as the twins, a boy and a girl, shifted. Alya noticed her movement and rested her hand on top of her own swollen belly, wincing sympathetically. 

“I don't know how you handle having two babies in there. Just this one is killing me,” she said, laughing. Marinette giggled. 

“They're definitely active. But they've been moving less today,” she said, rubbing her stomach. The timer on the over beeped and she waddled over to pull the cookies out, turning the oven off. She transferred the cookies to a cooling rack. 

“The doctor said that Noelle is measuring two weeks ahead,” Alya said, leaning against the counter. 

“She’s gonna be big!” Marinette exclaimed. Finished with the cookies, she turned back to her friend. She winced as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and Alya watched her, worried. 

Catching her breath, Marinette continued. 

“I'm scheduled for a c-section next week but the doctor said I can go any minute now.” She rubbed her belly again as the pain subsided. “I've been having contractions all day though.”

As soon as the words left her lips, she felt a rush of liquid from between her legs. Her eyes widened and Alya quickly made her way to the linen closet, grabbing two large towels. She threw one on the floor over the puddle of fluid and handed the other to Marinette, who held it between her legs. 

“You don’t say. Any minute now?” Alya cracked, laughing as she ushered Marinette to the door. “You guys, Marinette's water broke!”

Marinette heard muted curses and shuffling as Adrien and Nino jumped to their feet and ran over. 

“Oh my God, oh my God, okay, let's go,” Adrien muttered, sounding panicked. Nino flitted through the house and grabbed their bags for the hospital. Alya scooped up Catsby to take home with them.

Marinette doubled over and leaned against her husband as another contraction hit and she tried to breathe through it. After a minute, she straightened up. Alya and Nino rushed through the door to throw everything in their car for them. 

Adrien guided Marinette through the door and she looked over her shoulder at their apartment. She smiled. They had come so far. 

She was ushered into the car and Adrien hopped into the driver's seat and took off toward the hospital. Alya and Nino were going to drop Catsby at their house before meeting them there. 

Marinette reached over and put her hand on Adrien's knee and he glanced over at her. She smiled at him. He covered her hand with one of his own and smiled back, focusing back on the road. 

“We're gonna have our babies,” she sighed. “I love you, Kitty.” he squeezed her hand.

“I love you too, M'lady.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me over on Tumblr! Username hellbreaker-ml0234  
> I'll be posting drabbles and other writings on my blog after I finish this


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